Undersong
by BlackrockCat
Summary: When Noxus fell, all Talon had left was pain. The pain of fresh scars and fading memories. Three years later, a new threat has risen from the ashes and with Runeterra on the brink of total war, Talon's world may once again never be the same. (Rated M for language, violence, mature themes and sexuality).
1. Waiting for the Rain

_Well ladies and gents… it's been a while, but I'm back with another story. I've actually had this one waiting to get out of my head for the longest time, but due to some unfortunate twists and turns this year (personal stuff including a broken wrist, of all things), I was unable to do so. Until now, that is. So here we are – without further ado, please enjoy~_

* * *

 **Undersong, CH1**

She'd always hated Zaun.

The people here were rude beyond all measure and the air was always so thick and nauseating. They had somehow managed to turn pollution into an art form, a fact made painfully clear by the noxious fumes billowing skyward at all hours of the day, towering above the crown of the city like so many bloated pillars of living darkness. "Zaun Gray" they called it, the colorless gloom that always seemed to hang overhead. It made Lux physically ill just to be anywhere _near_ the city, let alone inside of it.

And yet, here she was.

Her slender silhouette flitted through the seemingly endless maze of corridors and alleyways, content to blend in with the crowds and remain as inconspicuous as humanly possible. A heavy cloak blanketed her features while a faded muffler sat wrapped loosely around the lower half of her throat and chin, in such a way that only a few stray strands of platinum blond were ever visible from underneath. Even so, one hand seemed to be permanently clasped at the edge of her hood, delicate fingers tugging downwards as if to combat the slightest chance that an errant breeze might blow her cover back at any given moment. This was Zaun after all – home to the largest slums in all of Runeterra – definitely no place for a Demacian to be milling about, much less one with a last name like Crownguard.

So… _why_ was she here again?

It was a fair question, one Lux had kicked around in her head countless times over the past few days. The short answer was simply that she had no choice in the matter; her mission had dictated so. And the long one? Lux was here because somewhere in this seedy cesspool that was Zaun's underbelly… somewhere hidden amongst all the filth and squalor…

 _He_ was here too.

One confirmed sighting, not seven days ago, in the southernmost district of lower Zaun. A place often not-so-affectionately referred to as the 'Blood Barrios,' where many of the Noxian exiled and displaced had been forced to settle after the war. It was a shaky lead at best, but Demacian intelligence reports were rarely if ever wrong. To that end Lux had spent the better part of nearly three days searching high and low – scouring every dive bar, every speakeasy, every house of ill repute and hole in the wall in the area – all for naught.

The man was as good as a ghost… and now only one spot remained.

Lux furrowed her brow and her hands balled into tiny fists beneath her sleeves. She was standing at the mouth of a rather ominous set of stairs recessed into the alley, a passageway that only seemed to lead deeper into the bowels of Zaun's seediest district. Her eyes flashed to the battered placard overhead. _The Brazen Bull…_ a dive bar turned opium den, and the last location on a very long and unsavory list.

 _Please be here._

The corners of her mouth curved downward as she exhaled, rose-colored lips shivering softly from the ever-present chill in the air. It took a few moments for her senses to adjust to the darkness. Gradually though, with each clack of her heels against the damp (and remarkably steep) stone steps, the shadows began to congeal around her and the cold seemed to all but drain away. She was standing in a small foyer now, a room densely packed and dimly lit along its length. Lux couldn't help but wrinkle her nose, fighting back the sudden urge to cough and retch from the pit of her stomach. The air here was warm and heavy with the smell of thistleweed and other opiates, the stench intense enough to coax tears from her eyes. Drawing in a shallow breath, Lux steadied herself and surveyed the room as best as she could.

Was… _this…_ really where she would find him?

The question seemed to answer itself when her gaze happened upon the silhouette of a lone shadow tucked away in the far corner of the bar, nursing what appeared to be a half-empty tumbler of ice and gin. Nothing about his attire screamed out of the ordinary, what with a pair of bootcut trousers slung low about his hips and a sleeveless hooded shirt, dark like the feathers of a raven's coat, clinging tightly to every pale sinew of his upper form. His left arm was laid bare; even in the dim light Lux could still make out the lattice of scars – some thin, some jagged – etched into every ridge of his slender musculature. His right arm, she noticed though, was wrapped tightly in long strips of ivory cloth, the bandages extending all the way from his fingertips to just under the curve of his shoulder.

Lux approached him cautiously at first, one step at a time, as if any sudden movement might have caused him to vanish into thin air before her very eyes. The sound of her own heart pounding against her ribs only made each step that much more daunting, not to mention the way her vision was starting to blur from the edges in, drowning out everything in her field of view save for his dark silhouette. Was it _really_ him? After all these years, was the man before her… really…

"T-Talon?"

The figure stiffened, the fingers of his bandaged hand moving to curl around the rim of his glass. His head tilted ever so slightly, lips parting but saying nothing. The ebon hood draped over his features did well to obscure everything save for a sliver of his profile – namely a few loose strands of dark chestnut and the lower half of a pale, angular jawline.

Lux's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to reach out – to touch him – to make sure this wasn't some sort of cruel trick, a product of her own imagination. Lacking the courage to do so though, she instead took the seat beside him and found a spot for her hand to rest on the counter next to his, the heat from the wood seeping into her trembling fingers. The warmth felt surprisingly soothing.

"It's been a long time…" The blonde whispered as her eyes remained anchored to the counter top, ice-blue orbs shimmering like the ripples in a pond. "All these years… I thought you were dead."

"I am."

"Don't say that!" A single tear splashed on the gnarled wood between her fingers. "Please don't. Not when there's so much I want to tell you… so much I never got to say." Her gaze fell by the wayside once more as an awkward silence set over the two. "There's no time for that though. Not anymore. Right now… we need your help."

"We?"

"All of us. Not just Demacia, but Noxus as well."

"Noxus is dead," Talon spat out before knocking back what was left of his drink, the gin-soaked ice cubes in his glass swirling about with a soft clink. "Or haven't you heard?"

"Talon please… just hear me out. Ever since the Night of Fire, things have only gone from bad to worse."

Talon grit his teeth. _The Night of Fire_ was the name they'd bestowed upon the violent insurgency in Noxus, led by Swain and the Black Rose nearly three years ago. It was the single bloodiest chapter in Noxian history – scores of citizens left dead, entire districts burned to the ground, a government eradicated overnight – and a pathetic moniker like that did _no_ justice to the bloodshed and anguish that followed for many months to come.

"The Demacian military is on permanent high alert now. War is but a formality at this point. Jarvan has already deployed several thousand troops along the border betw-"

"And how is your husband doing these days?" Talon lilted in the flattest, most scornful tone imaginable, casually stirring the ice cubes in his glass all the while.

Lux could only bite her lip, the girl's fingernails curling into the counter top.

"H-He's… _not…_ my husband!"

"Not yet, anyway."

 _"Talon!"_ Lux yelped as she pounded the counter. He'd clearly struck a nerve with that one. A nearby bottle clattered off of the countertop when she hit it, prompting several of the other patrons to cast glances their way. Her cheeks now bright red, Lux tugged on the edge of her hood before leaning in closer, her voice reduced to a whisper. "You and I both know that Swain's ambition was never to stop at Noxus. We now have reports that he is in possession of a weapon… one of unimaginable power, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. The threat is _very_ real, I assure you."

Talon narrowed his brow but otherwise seemed unmoved. "What kind of weapon?"

"W-we're not sure exactly." Lux glanced away yet again. "We only know it by its codename." She'd begun to chew on her thumbnail as she spoke, perhaps absentmindedly so. An old habit of hers Talon mused, something she often did when she was feeling overly anxious or excited. "The way they speak of it though, it has to be some kind of mobile arsenal, something capable of reaching any point in Valoran with relative ease. If Swain were allowed to use something like that, the damage could be catastrophic. We're talking hundreds of thousands, if not _millions-"_

"And what does all this have to do with me?" Talon sighed before reaching out to gently swat her fingers away from her mouth. For a moment Lux was utterly taken aback by the gesture, but as realization sank in, heat quickly rose to color her cheeks.

"Talon…" she whispered finally. "We need you. You know Noxus like the back of your hand… you've been inside the inner sanctum countless times. You might be one of the only people still alive to have done so. With your help, I know we can devise a strategy to infiltrate the city and end this madness before it ever begins."

"Lux…"

Talon whispered her name in that deep tone of his after a long pause. So dark and rich his voice was, but also so cold… wrought with bitterness and venom. Even now, it never failed to send a chill down her spine.

"You're joking, right?"

The blonde's heart sank into her stomach.

"Talon, _please!"_ She pleaded now, her gaze narrowing sharply in consternation. "This isn't a game. So many lives are at stake!"

"Are they now?"

"Y-You can't go on living like this, with your head in the sand."

"Oh, but I can."

The blonde faltered after that, her lips oscillating back and forth as if to contemplate her next choice of words very carefully. Lux knew what she was about to say would hurt him, no doubt stirring up old memories best left undisturbed in whatever dark corner of his mind he'd elected to bury them. She didn't want to hurt him – lord of all people not _him._ He'd suffered enough already, but there was just too much at stake to leave empty-handed now. No, she had to at least try and persuade him, even if it meant opening up those old wounds. Closing her eyes, Lux drew in a breath before leaning in and whispering softly into the corner of his ear.

"What would Katarina think… if she could see you like this?"

Talon stiffened. That was all the warning Lux would get. A split second later she was six inches off the floor, pinned against the wall by a single sinewy forearm under her throat. In the blink of an eye Talon's entire demeanor had shifted. Gone was that casual indifference, that drunken cynicism, only to be replaced with something more akin to cold, simple rage. Lux opened her mouth to cry out and yet the only sound she could muster was that of a wet, muffled pule. Through a haze she watched as his lips parted softly to voice a response, the words barely audible above the sound of her own choking and the swell of blood rushing to her head.

"Don't you ever… _ever…_ say her name again _…_ "

The last few syllables Talon punctuated with the full weight of his arm and only when Lux's struggling had ceased did he relax his grip, allowing her slender little frame to find the balls of its feet once more. Shrinking now, Lux clutched at her throat, her ice-blue eyes blinking back tears of pain as they lifted to search his gaze. She could see his face in its entirety for the first time now, all but tucked away under the folds of that tattered ebon hood. The years had not been particularly kind to him. Indeed, time had not been kind to _any_ of them really, but in typical Talon fashion he'd somehow managed to suffer more than most. He'd lost everything after all – his family, his home… perhaps even the will to live. Three long years had left him a shadow of his former self. His once proud features seemed so tired now, so gaunt and pale. His body was riddled with scars, both physical and invisible to the naked eye. Even those long, feathery bangs of his – the ones that always seemed to cling to the sides of his face, framing those angular features like a lovely, dark picture frame – were now matted with just a few hints of silver here and there. Yes, Talon was truly a shadow now… still dark and alluring in a way Lux had always found beautiful, but alas, just a shell of a human being.

Well, perhaps not entirely so.

At least one thing had managed to stay the same after all these years. One thing had weathered the test of misery, the toll of time. Talon's eyes – those razor sharp points of molten amber, ever lucent and defiant, smoldering like twin suns suspended in a sea of darkness…

Talon's eyes hadn't changed one bit.

"I… I'm sorry," Lux uttered in a hoarse whisper as the tears began to stream down her cheeks. "This was a mistake after all." Without another word she turned to push past him, disappearing into the darkness just as surreptitiously as she'd first appeared.

Talon watched her go but said nothing. For the longest time he simply stood there with his head resting against the wall and his gaze hidden from view, unmoving save for the subtle rise and fall of his chest. He could feel the eyes upon him now – the ever watchful, ever wary gazes of the other patrons occupying the bar. This place was a viper's nest after all, a veritable treasure trove of the very worst mankind had to offer. Criminals, thugs and lowlifes, the whole lot of them. More than a few likely bore grudges against Noxus, for one reason or another. His little spat with Lux had piqued their interests no doubt and in all the commotion she'd managed to cry out his former affiliation at least a handful of times. With a sigh Talon tossed a few coins atop the bar counter before making his way to the exit.

* * *

It was raining again.

Talon exhaled softly upon stepping out into the cold embrace of another soggy night, his breath diffusing around him like the burning embers of a half-lit cigarette. It often rained in Zaun around this time of year. Of course Noxus hadn't been much different in that regard, but for some reason the weather here just felt that much more miserable. The raindrops seemed heavier and the puddles more viscous, all tainted raspy metallic hues. It was quite a depressing sight when one actually stopped to think about it, which was why Talon rarely did so. Sure the lower wards of Zaun were just as shitty as everywhere else, but at least you could live your life out here in relative peace, as long as you kept your business to yourself.

 _Damn it, Lux…_

That girl was a magnet for trouble. She'd always been that way, even back when they'd first laid eyes upon one another. Back when things between them had been… different. It was no small feat on Lux's part that she'd somehow managed to track him down after all these years, but what exactly had she expected of him? That he'd drop everything just to partake in some silly little pipe dream to "save" a world that had already forsaken him and everything he'd once held so dear?

 _Fuck the world._

There was nothing left worth saving anyway.

"Hold it," a grim voice called out from somewhere beyond the darkness of the alleyway, snapping Talon out of his reverie. _Damn it._ He'd gotten lost in his own thoughts again… let his guard down for the second time today. Cursing under his breath Talon wheeled about slowly to face his would-be inquisitor.

The brute was tall, that was for sure. His neck (if it still qualified as one) was thicker than Talon's thigh and ended in a bulbous slack-jaw for a head, clean-shaven save for a pointed tuft of peppered grey under his lower lip. Talon recognized his ugly face from the bar; the man must have followed him… and from the looks of things, he'd brought a few friends along with him.

"The blonde in the bar," the man grunted as he flexed his neck, the action succeeded by the ominous crackle of several vertebrae popping into place, "she called you _…_ a _Noxian._ Is that true, boy?"

"Maybe." Talon responded without hesitation, his hands falling to his sides, palms relaxed. There was no use trying to hide it now.

The brute began to chuckle, prompting his cronies to do the same… all of them faceless goons, little more than stringy musculature, pockmarks and leers. "Well then." Another step forward and the two now stood toe to toe. Talon could almost taste the warm whiskey breath billowing across his nose. "Why don't you go back to the sewers where you belong?" The man grinned as the others began to take positions around them. "You Noxian refugees… you're like stray dogs, the whole lot of you. We don't need _filth_ like you in our city, understand?"

Talon couldn't help but shake his head, seemingly unfazed by the man's posturing. "Oh, I understand perfectly," he whispered under his breath, his tone callous and altogether laced with vitriol. Slowly but surely the assassin's steely gaze narrowed and the edges of his lips began to work their way into the initial stages of a rather wicked-looking grin.

"There's already plenty of filth to go around."


	2. The Night of Fire I

**Undersong, CH2**

"C'mon, sis. Is that all you got?"

With a casual flick from the back of his hand Talon reached up to wipe away a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of his lip. His matted bangs slid across his eye line as he did so, beads of sweat flickering off their long chocolate tips only to splatter against the naked sinews of his collarbone. The midday sun beat down on his wiry frame from above. The light caressed his spine and cast a shadow that seemed to span the entire length of the courtyard.

Out of the corner of his eye Talon spotted movement – the briefest glint of polished metal sailing towards him from his blindside. On reaction he shifted mere inches to the right, narrowly avoiding a rush of cool air as it whistled past his face.

Well… _almost_ avoiding it, anyway.

Two razor thin cuts opened up along his cheek a second later and Talon cocked his head over his shoulder to see a pair of ornate throwing knives freshly embedded in the tree behind him. He barely had time to crack a smirk. Before he could respond a shadow fell over his features from above, prompting him to wheel about and cast his gaze skyward.

There she hung in front of him, gliding on scarlet wings like some sort of angel – a seraph of death – but an angel nonetheless. Her long, fiery locks cascaded down her back like a flow of feathers, blotting out the sun from view. Such a pale, perfect little vision she was, so beautiful yet so deadly – from her taut, slender curves and crimson lips right down to the ruby-studded piercing that always seemed to adorn her navel. Talon squinted and his golden irises glimmered when they caught the light from something else though… a pair of curved, metallic objects trailing in the arc of her arms. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they scythed towards him from either side, serrated edges gleaming in the sunlight. And yet Talon remained motionless, as if hypnotized by his sister's form, unable to tear his gaze away for even a single moment. They were but a hair's breadth apart now, her blades poised to kiss his flesh and paint him red when Talon stirred at long last. First his lips parted ever so slightly, a devilish grin working its way into the edges of his otherwise impenetrable features…

And then she blinked and he simply vanished into thin air.

Katarina landed a split-second later, her blades piercing the earth where her brother had been standing only moments ago. Her chest heaved against the confines of her cropped leather bodice as the clash sent up loose bits of dirt and sod every which way. _"Damn it,_ Talon!" Kat growled. Her slinky form rose from the ground now, gaze flickering from side to side like a tigress on the prowl. "Every time… every _fucking_ time I have you right where I want you…"

The redhead froze.

Out of nowhere, a pair of muscular arms lashed about her wrists, followed shortly thereafter by the sensation of a dull, heavy pressure colliding with the base of her spine. In an instant Kat's vision was sent skyward – her body flailing, falling, and twisting – not stopping until she'd slammed back down into the earth with the full weight of her brother bearing down upon her.

"Close," came his hot whisper, flush against the crease of her lobe, "but not nearly close enough." Kat groaned as she struggled underneath his crushing weight, prompting him to twist her hands even further and pin them to the sides of her body like a straitjacket.

"Y-You're… such a cocky bastard," she managed to hiss from behind a nettled grimace, her sweat intermingling with his only to pool in the valley of her breasts. "This… isn't over… yet!"

"Oh?" Talon quirked his brow as he leaned in, their noses now barely an inch apart. "Well that's funny… it sure _looks_ like it's over from where I'm-"

Now it was Talon's turn to freeze in mid sentence, his witty retort reduced to a stifled grunt of surprise. Something warm and wet was pressing against his lips… something soft, tasting vaguely of cinnamon and garnished with the faintest traces of sweat and blood. Just like that Talon's grip faltered, heat rising to flood his cheeks. That was all it had taken for him to drop his guard, for him to forget what he was saying or doing, let alone remember where he was.

Nothing more than a kiss.

With their lips still locked Kat used the opening to snake her thighs around his and squeeze. Just like that the pair switched positions; Katarina was now on top, with her legs splayed about his hips and her breasts pushing firmly into his chest.

"Cheater…" Talon exhaled sharply after their lips parted, a thin string of saliva still connecting the two of them together.

Katarina simply licked her lips in response. A devilish little grin of her own began to crease her features as she did so. "Now now," she lilted in a low and almost musical tone, her fingernails moving to trace the scars along his shoulders. "Nobody likes a sore loser."

"Oh for _fuck's_ sake. Could you two at least _pretend_ to behave like normal siblings for once?"

Both brother and sister stiffened, their hawk-like gazes darting in unison to face the direction of the new voice. Its owner stood under the shade of a nearby chestnut tree not six paces away, arms firmly fixed across his chest. An imposing figure as it were, clad from head to toe in scarlet silks and gleaming armor the color of unpolished obsidian. He was tall – almost _too_ tall for Talon's liking. Wide too, with broad, chiseled features painted by the jagged caress of battles long since past. His arms were like tree trunks and his salt and pepper hair was cropped rough, no doubt the handiwork of those ever so talented Noxian military barbers.

Talon knew this man well, for better or worse. Mostly worse, if the stories were to be believed. A tough as nails bastard who'd once slaughtered his own commander – split him in two – just because he'd deemed him unfit to serve. A loose cannon, the Iron Hand of Noxus, dangerous through and through.

"Darius," Kat recovered from the intrusion first, her flushed brow narrowing sharply about her gaze. "What's the matter, hmm?" She took a moment to saddle the man with a smarmy look before rising to a cowgirl straddle across Talon's waist. "Don't you love _your_ little brother?"

"Tch. Please," Darius snorted as he shut his eyes. "Don't make me sick. Sometimes I can't tell whether you're fighting or fucking."

Talon glowered now as he shoved his sister off of him and moved to dust the loose soil and grass stains from his bare midsection. His gaze however, stayed locked on the man before them. "Live weapon training," he muttered under his breath as a derisive sort of smirk began to work its way into his features. "We should go a few rounds some time, that is if you're not too busy pounding nails into your d-"

"And to what, exactly, do we owe this pleasure?" Katarina interjected as she folded her arms under her breasts, her emerald gaze stirring to meet the unexpected visitor with a tenuous glare of her own. "Surely you didn't come all this way just to give us shit."

"No." Darius yawned as he cocked his gaze to the side ever so slightly. "Swain has requested your immediate presence at the inner sanctum, and yours… _alone."_ His savage gaze shifted slowly, moving from Kat to Talon. "In other words, tell your dog to heel."

Talon grit his teeth but said nothing, nearly biting off his own tongue in the process.

"For what purpose?" Kat dug her fingernails into her brother's forearm. "I've no business with the High Command today."

"Oh, I think you do." Darius could only smirk now, the corners of his bloodless lips pursing upwards ever so subtly. "We've found him, Kat. We've located your father." With a sweeping gesture the man wheeled about and began to saunter off, but not before pausing to glance over his shoulder one last time. "Get cleaned up first, though. You're filthy."

* * *

The doors to the inner sanctum's war room swung wide open, a pair of large and heavy slabs of lacquered wood, painted blood red and wrought with intricate iron ornamentation that only seemed to magnify the pomposity of it all. Both siblings stood upon the threshold now, their jaded gazes looking out across a cavernous stone hallway, dimly lit along its length from the waning beams of colored sunlight streaking through stained glass windows.

Talon hated it here.

"Kat," He uttered in that low and rich tone of his as he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. They'd hurried along in absolute silence the entire way here, with Talon doing little more than staring at the back of his sister's head the whole time. She'd been intentionally ignoring him for the past hour it seemed, probably because he was one of the few people who could sense her true state of mind even when it wasn't remotely obvious at all on the outside. And right now, she was nothing if not disturbed.

"Just… keep your mouth shut," she whispered back in a hoarse tone, shrugging his hand off to the side. "You always end up antagonizing Swain, anyway." The redhead stalked forward now, leaving Talon to grit his teeth and glower darkly under his hood.

Swain was seated behind his massive lectern desk as he always was, the giant sculpted eagle behind his chair casting a shadow across the floor that appeared to give his silhouette a pair of wispy, demonic wings. He was dressed in his usual garb, namely a long flowing greatcoat, impeccably buttoned from his collar to the tops of his steel-tipped boots. Underneath he wore a dark and heavy turtleneck that seemed to blanket the entire lower half of his face. To the man's left lounged another familiar figure… that of a monstrous black bird, his pet raven Beatrice. And to the right of course, stood Darius, as stoic and impassive as ever.

"Katarina," the man lilted in a surprisingly flippant yet even tone, eyes smiling all the while. "How nice of you to join-"

"Skip the pleasantries, Swain." Her eyes flickered to Darius for a moment, then back to the task at hand. "My father's whereabouts…"

"Ever direct and to the point, I see." Swain snickered, the only indication he'd done so the slight pursing of his sallow cheeks. "It goes without saying, but what I am about to tell you cannot leave this room." The man's beady eyes glimmered in the darkness, their heat matched only in intensity by the six crimson orbs belonging to the creature perched on his shoulder. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Just get on with it."

"As you wish." Swain smoothed out the creases in his uniform, allowing himself to sink deeper into his cedar-back chair before continuing. "First, allow me to give some context. There is a Demacian outpost just southeast of the marsh foothills in Kaladoun. A little known installation they would have us believe to be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill research station. For years we even took their word at face value. Now however…" The man inhaled sharply. "We know better. Recent intelligence suggests that there is more to this outpost than meets the eye. That it is, in fact… a military prison… a rather special one at that, designed to hold but a single detainee for extended periods of time."

"Daddy," Katarina whispered aloud without realizing it, her emerald gaze growing glassy and clouded as she seemingly stared off into nowhere.

Talon narrowed his brow. "How do we know this?"

"Our spy network managed to intercept and decode an extremely high-priority message bound for the capital. It would seem as though they've been holding Marcus there for quite some time now, but they plan to move him very soon. Our chance to strike is now. All that matters is the General's safe retrieval… followed by swift punishment for all the guilty parties responsible."

"And? When do we leave?"

"Immediately. But there is no _'we'_ in this, Talon. You are to stay put for the time being." Swain cocked his weathered brow, motioning with his chin to the armor-clad beast of a man standing beside him. "Darius and his personal detail shall accompany Katarina on this mission, and provide her with support for insertion and extraction as needed."

Talon balled his hands into rock-hard fists beneath his cloak. Something wasn't quite right about all this. "Like hell he will."

"This is _not_ a negotiation," Swain gnashed from behind his mask-like collar, the sudden movement causing Beatrice to flap her wings wildly. The man reached up to stroke the red-eyed beast's slender beak in a rather uncharacteristic show of affection, allowing her to resettle on his shoulder before continuing. "We have a separate mission lined up for you, one of the utmost importance. It appears as though there's been… some sort of disturbance… at one of our outposts in-"

"With all due respect, _General…"_ That last word Talon let swirl about in his mouth before spitting it out with the subtlest twist of levity. "I don't take orders from you." His gaze bore daggers under that hood of his now, blistering in the darkness at the two men he hated most, like a pair of meteors setting fire to the night sky. "If she goes, I go."

"Talon," Katarina whispered after having remained silent for so long. "It's ok. I'll be fine."

Talon grit his teeth and glared at his sister, or more accurately at the back of her head. She hadn't turned to face him when she'd spoken, but at this point she didn't need to. He could tell from her voice alone, from that muted tone of hers… strained as it was and barely able to keep her emotions in check… For all the prickly façade she was so fond of putting on, Talon knew full and well that underneath it all, this fiery jungle cat of a woman was still just a vulnerable little kitten at heart. In any case, something was off about the whole thing anyway. It all just seemed… way too convenient.

"Sorry Kat."

Talon whispered back after a long pause, his amber gaze narrowing sharply.

"But I don't take orders from you, either."


	3. The Night of Fire II

_Author's Notes: Happy new year dear readers! I'm back with another chapter of Undersong, and not a minute too soon it would seem. Just had to sneak one in to commemorate making it through 2015 ;) A word of warning though - this chapter *is* a little bit darker than what we've seen so far, so be prepared. And as always, enjoy~_

* * *

 **Undersong, CH3**

 _Five minutes._

That's how long he'd been gone.

 _Five fucking minutes._

Talon's chest heaved against his ribs, the frigid night air blazing a trail of ice and fire down his lungs with every heavy breath he took. His arms trailed by his sides and were covered in cuts and scrapes from scything through stinging nettles as tall as his hips, even as his boots continued to hammer a steady rhythm into the soft, sodden earth and shifting stones underfoot.

He'd left the two of them alone in camp, Darius and his sister, for five minutes. That was all… to take a bit of a stroll up the ridge, maybe clear his mind and answer nature's call. Perhaps he'd lost track of time in doing so, brooding in solitude over the mission and all his misgivings concerning it. The night had been cool and crisp, the sky brilliant in its darkness, littered with stars… as well as an odd sort of glow that seemed to be stemming from the eastern end of the valley. Right about where Noxus would have been. Talon had climbed the hillside for a better look, only to spy several bloated spires of ash rising into the night… thick clouds pouring over the horizon, each illuminated in orange and reddish hues from below.

Noxus was burning.

Now he was running along the cliff's side and the river rapids rushing below, his gaze flashing skyward to focus on the flickering silhouette of the forest canopy. The moon had already crested over the trees, the cold light it cast filtering through the foliage in pale, silver streaks that seemed to frolic along the forest floor. It was quiet now. Far too quiet. Even the insects had stopped buzzing and the only sound Talon could hear now – other than that of his own heart pumping furiously or his lungs screaming for a chance to catch their breath – was that of the wind whistling through the reeds.

As if on cue a faint cry pierced the darkness, prompting Talon to hasten his already breakneck pace. _Katarina._ No doubt about it. Another bloodcurdling shriek followed right after. This one however, was far lower in pitch than the first.

Not his sister's voice… but not Darius's, either.

With a surge of adrenaline Talon bolted through the last of the brambles and shrubbery, careening straight into the camp's center… only to stop dead in his tracks.

A newcomer stood bathed in the smoldering glow of the campfire, howling and cursing up and down as blood dribbled down his chin from a long gash under his eye… and what appeared to be the business end of a tiny boot knife still embedded in his flesh. The man was stout, even hunched over as he was with his hands clutching his face and deep crimson welling up between his chipped fingernails. His hair was coarse and windswept, his wiry frame draped in serrated leather and overlapping furs of various patterns and colors, each layer seemingly more egregious than the last.

Talon's focus swept down to alight upon another form… that of his sister, battered and barely breathing, doubled over in a pile at the man's feet. Her clothing lay in tatters even as a ring of surly men in Noxian military garb moved to surround her, pinning her to the ground with the blunt ends of their pikes.

Talon's breath hitched in his throat.

Without hesitation his hands fell to his blades, but before he could draw them – let alone even process what was transpiring – something dull and heavy met with the back of his head. For a moment his vision turned red and his limbs went numb. Then the assassin's knees buckled altogether and he crumpled to the floor.

"I'm sorry Talon," came a heavy whisper from somewhere above. "But you should have listened to Swain." The butt of a great axe embedded itself in the earth next to him while an iron forearm hooked under his throat, dragging him off the ground and onto his knees in a brutal rear naked choke. "If you'd like," the gruff voice continued, "I'll kill you first so you won't have to watch her die."

"Darius…" Talon curled his fingers meekly around the arm threatening to crush his windpipe. "W-what… are you…" Blood began to trickle down his brow, streaming in thin rivulets out from under his hood and the top of his dark hairline.

"I'm doing what I must." Darius inhaled sharply, his stranglehold never faltering nor wavering, not even for a moment. "For the sake of Noxus."

Talon's eyes threatened to roll into the back of his head. It took everything he had now just to stay conscious. "W-what… the fuck… are you talking about..."

"Our people grow fat and complacent in these tranquil times. Our leaders are toothless. It makes me sick to my stomach." Darius grunted. "This is not the Noxus I know or love. But no more. The time has come to reshape and reclaim our home. Under Swain's guidance, we shall make Noxus great again." He leaned in now, his breath heavy against Talon's lobe. "The old Noxus is dead, Talon… and with it, so too House Du Couteau." The man's stony gaze turned to face the spectacle unfolding before them, namely that of his brother Draven clutching angrily at his own bloodied face as he attempted to pull a knife shard out from under his eye socket. "Draven! Stop screwing around and kill her already."

 _"F-ffuck me!"_ Draven cursed as he planted the tip of his boot into Katarina's stomach over and over again, his howling and bellyaching slowly giving way to a fit of psychotic laughter in the process. The other soldiers began to back away. "Bitch almost got my eye…"

Katarina groaned with every blow, her voice strained and weak, barely audible above the sound of her own breathing. That wouldn't stop a sharp cry from escaping her lips though, when Draven finally stooped down to take hold of her hair, only to yank on it violently from behind.

"I guess you like this rough shit, huh?" His words vibrated against the back of her head as he pressed his nose into the crease of her wet scarlet locks. "Me too." Draven paused, as if to make a dramatic show of inhaling her scent, then reared back and slammed her face into the ground. _Hard._ So much so in fact, that a dark pool began to spread in the dirt under her chin. Snickering, he hoisted her head back up to bask in the light of the campfire.

Katarina hung limp in his arms now, her nostrils flared and streaming thin rivulets of blood down her throat and chin. She was fluttering in and out of consciousness and her dirt-caked features remained all but obscured by a tangled cascade of matted scarlet, stained at the tips an even deeper shade of red.

"T-Tal…"

"Stupid bitch." Draven shoved her face into the dirt before rocking back on his heels and reaching up to cradle the bloody mess she'd left behind on his face. "Stings like a motherfucker." His other hand began to wander south as he did so, callous fingers prodding the curve of her spine and not stopping until they'd slipped under the waistband of her leggings. "Hey brother," Draven huffed now as a lopsided grin began to spread across those pearly white teeth of his. "How 'bout we… have some _fun_ first?" With every flick of his wrist the dark leather fabric clinging to Kat's backside wrenched downwards further and further, slowly giving way to the pale, milky smoothness hidden underneath.

Talon could feel a dull ache in his chest whenever his ribcage swelled to fill the growing void in his lungs. "Draven," he growled as best as he could, what with a vise-like forearm cutting into his air supply. His voice was raspy, cracked and low. "If y-you… touch her… I swear-"

Darius wrenched his forearm deeper, reducing Talon's threats to little more than a stifled string of chokes and burbles.

"Brother, that's enough," the man saddled his younger sibling with a hard gaze, his demeanor austere and ever grim. "Let's just do what we came here to do and then get back to Noxus. Swain is awaiting our-"

"Fuck Swain." A sliver of saliva dribbled down Draven's pointed beard only to splatter between the dimples of Kat's lower back. "Crippled bastard can wait. This bitch needs to be taught a lesson first." With one final tug he corralled her leggings to the middle of her thighs, the curve of her bottom now all but exposed to the cool night air. "I mean… _look_ at this ass. It'd be a waste to just _kill_ her, y'know?" Draven glanced up now, reaching up with the back of his hand to wipe the drivel off his chin. His own belt buckle hung loosely from the front of his trousers. "Don't tell me the thought's never crossed your mind."

Before Darius could respond, a faint whimper wafted up from somewhere below them, prompting the men to cast their gazes downwards. Katarina had drawn in her limbs and begun to crawl away on all fours, lurching forward through the mud one miserable inch at a time. She wouldn't get very far though. No sooner had she started than a pair of hands lashed about her upturned thighs. Her skin dimpled under the heavy grip, the pain drawing another feeble cry from her lips as she slowly slid backwards through the dirt. Another warm wad of spittle landed between her legs and Draven reached down this time with two fingers to massage it into her skin. "Huh," he chortled after a moment, his lupine gaze grinning all the while. "Looks like the carpet _does_ match the drapes."

Talon clenched his jaw shut like a steel trap. He could feel his blood coursing through his temples and his anger boiling over like an empty kettle left to simmer over an open flame. His vision had grown dim and blurry, whether from blood and sweat pooling under the rim of his eyelids or from the lack of oxygen to his brain was anybody's guess. His head lolled to the side now as he struggled to blink black the specters dancing at the edges of his gaze and instead focus only on his sister writhing in the dirt not twelve paces away. Fresh tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. He'd once sworn to her father that he would protect her at all costs… and yet here he was, choking on his own spit and blood, unable to do anything but watch as her body convulsed every time Draven's flesh slapped against it from behind.

"No…"

Talon grit his teeth and roared.

 _No._

With one final surge of strength Talon lashed out, slamming the back of his skull into Darius's jaw with such a forceful and ear-splitting crack, it might as well have been a thunderclap. The bigger man's neck whipped back and he nearly dropped like a stone from the force of the blow, his forearm sliding out from under the assassin's chin. That was all the leeway Talon needed. In a flash he was darting through the moonlight towards Draven and Kat, his shadow kicking up loose bits of dirt, sludge and fallen leaves every which way. Two soldiers appeared in front of him with their pikes set to skewer his sides, but that wouldn't stop him now. Nothing could. The blades bit into his flesh with wet squelches, each passing through the spaces in his ribs, but Talon simply lashed out with both hands and drove his palms into their jawlines, as if to force their freshly broken teeth into the back of their skulls.

Talon's body was all but numb to any kind of sensation now. No pain, no pleasure. _Nothing._ No, all that mattered now was to wrap his hands around the son of a bitch who dared violate his sister… and then tear him apart, limb from fucking limb. Talon took one more step, his hands balling into rock-hard fists, fingernails wet with blood… and then his eyes grew wide and he froze when something cold and metallic passed through his bicep, bisecting his right arm cleanly below the shoulder.

Time seemed to grind to a halt. The weary assassin glanced up now to see Draven's grinning form standing before him – pants around his ankles and cock dangling between his legs – reaching out with one hand to snatch a spinning scythe-like blade out of the air. Talon's jaw went slack and his blood splattered across his own face a split second later, a thick font of red gushing forth from the spot where his arm used to be. His clouded gaze passed over the spot where his severed hand lay twitching in the dirt and then his eyes simply rolled into the back of his head. He sank to his knees and swayed as his lips parted in a pitiful sort of half-grimace half-smirk, but his momentum continued to carry him forward right past Draven… past his sister… and right off the edge of the cliff.

Down Talon tumbled, down, down… his blood sputtering from his wounds in graceful, sheet-like spirals, not stopping till he'd vanished from sight into the freezing waters below.


	4. Unraveled I

**Undersong, CH 4**

His eyes opened slowly, ears pricking up to the gentle rumble of pitter-patter and the steady if muted thrum of Zaun's droning undersong… a city that never ever seemed to sleep. His temples throbbed and his muscles ached in places he'd forgotten ever had them to begin with. His head was the worst offender of them all at the moment; right now it felt as though his mind were drifting along in some sort of gloomy haze, mired in an undertow of broken memories and unwanted emotions he'd long since consigned to oblivion.

 _Fuck._

This was one _hell_ of a hangover.

For the longest time Talon lay motionless in the darkness, the faded flicker of life in his gaze struggling to reignite and make sense of his surroundings once more. His left hand – the unbandaged one – rose up and spread its fingers as if to clutch at the ceiling, only to stop halfway when his gaze happened upon several mottled splotches of discoloration marring his knuckles. Talon let out a curse as he gingerly flexed each bruised finger, watching their swollen silhouettes sway against what little light was shining in through the shuttered slats of the windows.

He was lying half-naked in a bed. Not his own, apparently. The soft, flimsy linen draped across the lower half of his frame felt cool to the touch and far more expensive than anything he'd have ever been able to afford, stolen or otherwise. Talon's gaze slid past his injured hand and on to the stark popcorn-textured ceiling overhead. He inhaled softly as the unmistakable scent of antiseptic, alcohol, and various medicinals conspired to fill his lungs. It was all so pristine. Sterile. Clinical.

He'd had always hated that smell

"Awake at last, I see."

A heavy voice called out from somewhere beyond the darkness, snapping Talon from his reverie. The accent was thick but measured, oddly reverberant, almost mechanical in its cadence.

"For a while I was beginning to think that body of yours had finally given up on you."

It was a familiar voice at that, but much like the hospital scent seeping into his pores, it was a stimulus he'd have much rather preferred to do without. Talon grunted as he drove both elbows into the mattress, trying with all his might to prop himself up to a seated position. The room began to spin as soon as his head left the pillow though, so with a sigh of resignation he plopped right back down, his fingers rising to pinch the corners of his furrowed brow.

"Look," Talon groaned under his breath, "I'm really… _really_ not in the mood right now, so if you could just-"

"Oh believe me, it shows." The figure moved out of the shadows to bask in the glow stemming from the windows. The city lights bathed his figure in flickering neon-tinged patterns that danced all along his ivory lab coat and the dull metal plating layered underneath. "Your blood alcohol concentration is just over zero point one four, and I detect traces of no less than three different methamphetamines in your system." The man glided forward to take a position at the side of the bed, his unblinking yellow gaze cutting through the gloom like a pair of lighthouse beacons. "Tell me Talon, are you _trying_ to get yourself killed? Because that definitely appears to be the case." He heaved a heavy sigh. "I did not save your life all those years ago just to watch you piss it away time and time again."

"Nobody asked you to, Viktor," Talon snapped under his breath as he bent his legs, his fingers moving to grip the edges of the mattress. "I sure as hell didn't." His chest heaved and his scars rippled against the sinews of his wiry frame as he groaned, finally managing to slide up to a seated position against the headboard. "How did I end up here, anyway? Last thing I remember…"

"You were involved in another altercation." Viktor folded his arms across his chest. "Six men this time. Then you passed out face down in an alleyway apparently, in a puddle of god knows what."

"Sounds about right."

"You killed them, you know. Those men." Viktor exhaled sharply behind his faceplate. "You really don't know your own strength, do you?" He extended one arm towards Talon now, palm facing up and metallic digits spread. "Show me your hand."

"Which one?"

"Take a wild guess."

A weary sigh escaped his lips, but Talon eventually complied and raised his bandaged right arm, allowing Viktor to take hold of it in his own. With practiced precision Viktor began to undo the soiled cotton strips wrapped so tightly around the arm, the bandages unraveling to reveal but a glint of the sleek, dark metal hidden underneath.

"Well… at least none of the actuators appear to be damaged. Looks like some superficial scuffing along the dorsal and antebrachial regions." His lucent gaze leveled with that of Talon's, and the assassin could almost swear he saw a sneer forming under the man's mask. "Do you simply go around punching every wall you see? This arm is _not_ a toy, you know. The cost of varanium alone likely exceeds the entire worth of your life."

"Didn't realize you cared."

"I don't." Viktor's attention fell back to the arm now as he went on carefully examining each metallic digit. "But now that my most advanced technology is a part of you, I cannot just sit by idly while you attempt to drag it through the mud with the rest of your body, every chance you get." He sighed. "If you die like an idiot, so too would my reputation in the scientific community."

"I see." Talon pulled his hand away. He saddled Viktor with a bit of a scowl now as he clutched one arm in the other, running his left hand's fingers across the smooth facets of his right's dark metal knuckles. The sensation was still an alien one to him, even after all these years. "I suppose I should thank you then, for dragging me here tonight."

Viktor cocked his head. "I did nothing of the sort. You can thank your girlfriend for that. _She_ was the one that brought you here, not me. With no help from _you_ I can only imagine, and in this awful downpour no less."

"M-my… _what?"_

"Girlfriend, prostitute, whore, whatever… the little blonde girl. My god, must I keep track of _those_ for you, too?" Viktor smoothed out the creases in his lab coat before turning to face the window. The city lights seemed to engulf him whole as he walked towards them, the glow outlining his silhouette in a cavalcade of neon hues and fluorescent shades. "Talon," he intoned after an emphatic pause, "if you continue to tread down the path you are on… if you insist on indulging in this self-destructive behavior, this wallowing in your own self pity…" Viktor shot a glance over his shoulder now, that ominous ball of light he called his right eye blazing a direct line of focus to the battered assassin's brow. "You will _not_ survive. Of course, no matter how many times you break your body, I suppose it can be fixed. An arm today, perhaps a leg tomorrow. Sadly though, there _does_ exist one part of the human anatomy that all the technology in the world cannot fix… and that, my friend, is your head. Your _mind._ I brought you back from the brink of death nearly three years ago, yet you still choose to live in the past, with no regard for the present or future." Viktor shook his head. "That is not living, Talon. That is simply dying… very, very slowly… with both eyes open. Do you understand?"

The intensity of the man's stare threatened to bore a hole straight though Talon's head and yet the assassin made no movement whatsoever, save to glare down the barrel of his own imaginary sights right back at him. Gradually though, Talon's brow began to narrow about his gaze, gold-flecked irises glimmering every time they reflected what little light they caught through the washed out windowpanes.

"She's not my girlfriend," he sighed finally, his eyes vanishing beneath a tangled river of dark chestnut tresses. "Nor is she a whore, so don't you dare call her that ever again."

Viktor sighed in turn. "Fine. What exactly would you prefer I call her then?"

"Lux."

Talon's shoulders slumped forward, his hand moving to brush a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes line. His lips curved upwards ever so slightly as he did so, the subtlest of wistful smirks working its way into the very corners of his features.

"Her name… is Lux."

* * *

 _This is for the best._

A pale, pensive figure slipped through the darkness of the narrow hallways in silence, leaving behind a burgeoning trail of puddles with every step she made across the carpeted floors. Her lips were parted and her cheeks remained flushed from the bitter caress of rain and wind, even long after she'd made her way indoors. The girl's features sat masked behind a dripping mess of wet platinum, her shining locks tumbling down the hem of her cloak in long golden curls.

 _It's better this way._

Lux folded her fingers firmly into the silver inlays of her baton, as if by squeezing it she might somehow manage to wring it dry. The memories from tonight's encounter remained seared into her psyche, the images fresh enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Talon was alive.

After all these years, at least _that_ much she could be thankful for. The two of them had never really talked much, even back when they'd only first met and their relationship had been a far more… intimate one. Talon wasn't exactly the type to share his thoughts or feelings, and even less so when it came to anything concerning his past. From what little Lux _had_ managed to glean off of him in the afterglow of their idle pillow talk, she knew full and well that he was no stranger to shouldering hardship or pain. The recollection of the stories he'd tell her as they drifted off to sleep… the mere thought of what he'd been made to endure as an orphan growing up in Noxus… it never failed to break her heart.

This however, went far beyond any of that.

She could see it as plain as day, even when she'd first laid eyes upon him in the bar. She'd heard it too, in his semi-conscious ramblings, dragging him bleeding through the rain-slick streets in search of help after the deadly scuffle later that night. Whatever he'd been through these past few years… whatever torment he'd suffered… it had left him scarred, mentally and otherwise, perhaps irrevocably so. Talon was alive yes, but right now he was far too broken… far too damaged to help anyone with anything, let alone take care of himself.

Lux sighed as she rubbed her eyes, her breath effervescing into the darkness as a warm cloud of steam.

That was it then. They would have to find another way into Noxus. Another way to stop Swain's madness, without Talon's assistance. It wasn't right dragging him back into all of this anyway. He'd suffered enough already. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't done it before – stolen into Noxus – so many times in fact. Could she do it again? Lux bit her lip unconsciously at the thought. Her last mission into Noxus had ended… quite poorly, yes… but that was all such a long time ago. She was far more skilled now and she'd never allow herself to get caught like that again. All she had to do was convince Jarvan and the others of that fact as well.

 _Convince Jarvan, huh?_

Another heavy sigh escaped her lips as the blonde's meandering came to a sudden halt. She was standing right outside his quarters now. Jarvan IV – the crown prince of Demacia, and for all intents and purposes… her fiancé. _God._ Lux's rosy lips curved into a soft frown, even as she reached for the door handle.

The daughter of Crownguard and the son of Lightshield; their union would unite the two most powerful families in all of Demacia. There was just _one_ little problem with all of that, though – neither party was in love with the other. But alas, that mattered little. This was her fate determined by her parents from the very start. She was to be a gift, an offering whose recipient had already been decided, long before she'd ever been born. Lux had managed to put it off for so long, hiding behind her schooling first, then her brother and finally her exceedingly long military service… but the world was different now. There was nothing left to protect her from the inevitable.

Lux had nowhere left to hide any longer.

"Jarvan," she whispered softly as she turned the handle, the door to his quarters swinging open to illuminate the darkness inside. "I know it's late, I'm sorry… but we need to talk. I have some urgent-"

The blonde stopped dead in her tracks, eyes growing wide and breath hitching in the back of her throat.

"Luxanna," a low voice grunted from the shadows of the bedchamber. "You're back… early." Jarvan cocked his head over his shoulder, his massive naked scapula rippling as they flexed when he moved to slide up from atop the bound, blindfolded, and blue-skinned form of a woman writhing in passion on his bed underneath him.

Lux's baton clattered to the floor a moment later.

"One moment," Jarvan whispered back, even as his kiss flickered across Shyvana's pale blue lips, trailing to the cleft of a small black bit-gag cinched between her teeth. He moved to anchor her arms above her head with slow yet firm tugs on her bonds, stretching them taut to the wrought iron bars of the bed's headboard. The blushing half-dragon's chest swelled when he did so, her heavy, naked breasts warbling softly as she let out a low-pitched, muffled moan.

Lux's body seemed to move on its own accord now, shrinking away from the doorway and from a scene she probably shouldn't have been privy to in the first place. Her backpedalling wouldn't take her very far however, as she found herself smushed against the opposite wall of the narrow hallway, with Jarvan emerging from his quarters clad in nothing but a pair of loose silken pants held low about his hips by a gold-threaded drawstring. The flimsy, sweat-stained garment did little to hide the man's angular abdominals as they tapered into a wide 'V' towards the base of his pubic bone. The crown prince of Demacia was nothing if not imposing.

"Now then," he grunted and seemingly closed the distance between them with just a few steps, reaching out to take hold of her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "What news do you have for me, my dear?"

Lux couldn't help but flinch at his touch. Jarvan loomed over her like an ivory tower, his massive figure casting a shadow that threatened to swallow her slender frame whole. Lux's heartbeat quickened and for some reason her eyes flashed to her baton resting on the carpet only a few paces away, just out of reach. She'd never before felt so small or so vulnerable in this man's presence.

"Jarvan," the blonde whispered his name in a soft and almost breathless tone, unable to bring her sapphire gaze to meet his. Indeed it took every ounce of her strength now just to keep from trembling underneath him. "I-It's late… and I… I'm interrupting. Why don't I come back… at another time?"

"Nonsense." The man's grip grew just a tad bit firmer. The pads of his fingers dug in to her soft skin, prompting her to wince. "You're not interrupting anything." For a moment he left it at that and his gaze moved to drink in her sopping form with renewed intensity, as if to penetrate her thoughts through sheer force of will alone. "So," he tilted his head finally, "were you… able to locate him?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"And?"

"Talon won't be joining us."

Jarvan's hand slipped away from her chin, if only to slide downwards with the ridges of his knuckles tracing the contours of her throat and shoulder. "I see. How disappointing, indeed." She could see the blood vessels in his temples twitching underneath his skin. His jaw clenched and his teeth began to grind upon one another, if only for a fleeting moment, giving way to a soft smirk that never seemed to be too far from his lips. "That doesn't leave us with many options now, does it? You and I both know there's far too much at stake to simply leave it at that." His lips pursed at the edges. "Perhaps there's still some way we might… _persuade_ him?"

"Please Jarvan, just leave him be! He's suffered enough as it is." A bit of warmth rushed to flood Lux's cheeks as she pleaded with him, her naturally pale features reddening with every huff. "He can't help us, but I… I'll find another way into Noxus. You have my word."

Jarvan sighed. The hand that he'd been resting on her shoulder rose to stroke her cheek now, his fingers curling under the crease of her delicate jawline.

"You truly are a troublesome little creature, you know that?" The last few words he emphasized with a series of sharp yet playful tugs upon her chin. "So impetuous." He leaned in even closer, prompting Lux to hold her breath in her chest. The stench of liquor was overpowering. Slowly Jarvan's head tilted and his lips moved to press against hers, but Lux flinched yet again, turning her head aside at the very last moment so that he ended up kissing her cheek instead.

"I'm sorry." Lux inhaled sharply. "It's late… and I-I'm exhausted. I should really-"

The pressure his fingertips exerted on her jaw seemed to double for a moment, more than enough to force her mouth shut. Lux's gaze rose to meet his for the first time tonight. Her heart was pounding, her breath had lost its way somewhere in the pit of her throat, and yet so far she'd somehow managed to keep from trembling in his presence. Only her hands seemed to be shaking uncontrollably, balling into tiny fists beneath her sleeves.

"Jarvan," she whispered again, her voice flat and hoarse, barely there. "You're hurting me."

For the longest time they stood there like that in silence, chest to chest and eye to eye. Then finally, just as Lux thought her legs were going to give way, Jarvan released her with a grunt. "Very well," he uttered under his breath, clearing his throat and wheeling about as if nothing had happened. "Prepare a report for tomorrow. You'll debrief the team in the morning. In the mean time though…" Jarvan cocked his head over his shoulder to lock eyes with her one last time. He was still smiling. "Get some sleep my dear. You look like you need it."

The door to his quarters banged shut with two clicks, leaving Lux to fight back her tears alone in the shadows of the hallway.


	5. Unraveled II

_Authors Notes: YESSSS, IT'S HAPPENING! I'm back with an update for Undersong. I know it's been a while, but having an epic case of writer's block will do that to you. I think I managed to beat it back and get into the mood again with the one-shot I wrote last week - Beautiful Scars - so I'm ready to tackle this monstrosity once more. As always, please enjoy~_

* * *

 **Undersong, CH5**

Dawn came quickly. The rain had continued to drizzle down well on into the early hours of the morning, only to fade away altogether before the first rays of sunlight would ever pierce through the slats in Lux's shuttered windows. She lay tangled in her gauzy satin sheets, bleary eyed and all but unmoving save for the subtlest warble of her breasts each time she drew in a breath. Every now and again though she stirred, blinking back phantom tears that had long since dried up and crusted over under the rims of her dark lashes. Her body seemed to ache in places she'd never thought possible, from the nape of her neck to the tips of her toes. Slowly her head rose from her pillow and she stretched, the action doing all sorts of interesting things to the fitment of her taut leather top and leggings.

 _Leather?_

Lux blinked once, then twice, and a groan escaped her lips. She was still wearing the same exact clothing she'd had on last night. With a heavy sigh she turned to pluck her makeup compact off the nightstand and peer into its mirror. The woman gazing back at her might as well have been a stranger. Her hair lay matted against her pale features in long flaxen wisps, clinging to her throat and the edges of her red-rimmed gaze like broken husks in a field of wheat. Her fingers took to tracing a soft arc along the curve of her chin, lingering only when they came across the spot where Jarvan had taken hold of her the night before. The skin there was still tender and the marks he'd inadvertently left behind had already started to curdle, each turning a mottled purple tinged with bits of red. Lux's jaw clenched. He'd managed to do that with just three fingers. Slowly she took up the concealer brush and began to paint over her bruises.

The minutes rolled by and the door to her quarters swung open. Out she peered into the relative gloom of the hallway, her sapphire gaze darting left first, then right, then left again. Lux had resolved to take her first step only after she'd made sure the coast was clear. She wouldn't get very far.

"Luxanna…"

The blonde tensed up at the sound of her own name – her proper, full name at that – nearly jumping out of her skin in the process. So much for stealth. Lux clenched her toes and her hands curled into the stiff fabric of her shawl. Her expression however, remained remarkably impassive and unchanged.

"G-good morning… Shyvana."

The half-dragon stepped into the light, the sun's rays dancing down her muscular core and massive bosom. Each was wrapped in various bits of blackened leather and skeletal plate. Lux couldn't help but blush now as the memories from last night began to bubble to the surface of her mind's eye.

"Could we… talk… for a moment?" Shyvana's fingers stayed clasped about her own biceps, hugging herself as a child would before receiving a harsh scolding. Even her gaze seemed glued to the floor, unable to rise from the spot between her feet. Talk about irony. This woman was nearly _twice_ Lux's height – so majestic and powerful – one of the fiercest warriors in all of Demacia. She had the blood of dragons quite literally coursing through her veins and yet, at this very moment, she seemed utterly unable to meet Lux's gaze even half way. "About last night…" She faltered, her cobalt cheeks dappling with the faintest hues of pink and crimson. "About what you witnessed…"

Lux drew in a sigh before reaching out to take the other woman's hands in her own. "Shyv," she whispered gently, doing her best to remember to smile. "It's ok. I promise."

"B-but…" Shyvana's trembling gaze rose for a moment, just enough so that the light in the hall could reflect off the glassy film pooling at the corners of her eyes. "I… I need to apologize… f-for-"

"You did _nothing_ wrong." Lux squeezed her hands. "Nothing! I promise." The blonde tilted her head and forced another smile. It was true though; she hadn't done anything wrong. Her only crime had been falling in love with the wrong man. "Come," she whispered, "let's not keep the others waiting, ok?" Slowly Lux interlaced her fingers with those of Shyvana's and tugged, leading her demihuman companion out of the shadows and down the hallway.

The war room sat at the very center of the installation, a cavernous space that was remarkably well decorated, what with exotic weapon and banners lining the walls, plush crimson carpets wrought with golden inlays padding the floor, and a large oak round table sitting in the center of it all. True to its name, the room was bustling with the activities of soldiers and other military personnel all milling about, talking amongst themselves. Lux tuned it all out. Instead she found her mind beginning to wander back to the events of last night yet again… of what she'd seen and what she already knew. Honestly, she didn't mind Jarvan fucking other women. Lord no… that much was a respite, if anything. The fact that it was _Shyvana_ though, made her feel more than just a tad bit guilty, almost as if she'd used the half-dragon as a shield.

Speak of the devil.

Jarvan sat at the very head of the war room table, a pensive look etched into the lines of his marbled features. His chin lay propped up by a single fist tucked under his throat and his armor gleamed with what little light was streaking in through the skylights in the ceiling, the metal shimmering like the moon reflecting the sun. His gaze rose to greet the two newcomers – Lux in particular – and his demeanor seemed to shift, a cold sort of smirk working its way across his lips. "Good morning," he intoned, folding one fist into the other. "I trust you both slept well?"

Without waiting for a response the prince motioned with his chin to another man standing not far from his side. This one was tall and about as broad-shouldered as he was barrel-chested, with long salt and pepper hair pulled up into a heavy topknot. His face bore the marks of a man who had seen more than his fair share of combat, as did his uniform, adorned on the lapel with three golden crowns. The mark of General, the highest rank one could ever hope to achieve in the Demacian military. This man was the prince's right-hand, if Shyvana was the left.

"At ease, men!" Xin Zhao trumpeted and like cogs in a well-oiled machine, the eyes of every soldier within earshot turned to face him. The room had fallen silent, the shift in atmosphere so great Lux couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"I believe it goes without saying," Jarvan cut the tension with this voice, "but I thank you all for assembling here today. I'm sure we're all quite well aware of the situation and stakes, so I'll skip the details. Suffice to say, the weapon our enemy has in their possession threatens not simply our own livelihoods, but also the lives of all those who would count themselves amongst the good and decent. _Noblesse oblige_ bids us to act in this land's defense. So we shall." His gaze flickered towards Lux, lips pursing into that stern and humorless smirk he so often employed to mask what was really going on beneath the surface of his mind. She'd seen that face before, many, many times. "Your report, my dear."

All eyes turned to face Lux now. The blonde faltered for a moment, her body growing just a bit feverish under the sudden lamp of so many expectant gazes. "I-I…" Her resolve nearly faded then and there, but for a pair of strong steel-blue hands alighting upon her shoulders from behind. With a deep breath Lux gathered herself. "Last night I managed to make contact in Zaun with an individual formerly affiliated with the old Noxian command. Unfortunately though…" her voice trailed off for a moment and her gaze wavered under the curls of her platinum tresses. "I was… unable… to procure his assistance." She steeled her bright sapphires and glanced up again. "That leaves us with few options. Security around Noxus has increased nearly tenfold over the past year alone. The inner sanctum is heavily warded and even if we were to make it past the walls of the capital, we'd likely have to contend with whole divisions of elite and heavily armed soldiers. There's really no easy way in or out."

"What about the cliff side?" Xin stirred again, his calloused fingers stroking the scraggly, pointed hairs of his beard. "Perhaps if we were to mount a nighttime assault from the sea…"

Lux shook her head. "Too dangerous. The cliff face is sheer and all but impassable – it's nearly a five hundred foot drop into the ocean."

"Not by land, nor air, nor sea," Jarvan mused out loud, clipping every syllable as he spoke. He grit his teeth and Lux could almost swear she saw the veins in his temples twist. "What exactly do you propose we do then, my dear?"

Lux tilted her head and offered a soft smile in response. It was the first genuine look she'd given all morning. "Magic," she whispered finally, her eyes smirking. "We use teleportation magic to send a small force into the very outskirts of Noxus. The security there is tight yes, but much less so than around the inner sanctum. If we can just get ourselves in undetected, I think we can force a breach from the inside."

"And _then_ what?" A heavy whisper called out from somewhere off in a far corner of the room. A low voice at that, deep and brooding, practically smoldering with a smug yet scornful sort of swagger only one man could ever bother to pull off. "You'd never make it past the inner walls."

Lux's eyes widened and her breath hitched midway in her throat. She stood absolutely frozen in place now, unable to move, let alone blink... even while all the others wheeled about to face the direction of the voice's owner. Lux didn't have to look; she already knew whom it belonged to. Her lips parted to form the syllables of his name, but before the blonde could even utter a sound she found herself falling to the floor, shoved aside by the force of a heavy silhouette bolting past her. Lux yelped when her bottom smacked the ground and her gaze craned upwards just in time to see Shyvana charging headlong at the lean and wiry form of a hooded figure standing in the shadows behind them.

 _"Intruder!"_ Shyvana growled through clenched teeth as she lashed out like a whip. In the blink of an eye her claws took hold of the man's throat and she moved to slam his body against the wall like a ragdoll, the naked muscles in her shoulders rippling beneath the confines of her cobalt skin. The hooded figure responded with a tenuous grunt but said nothing. His own arms had yet to do anything other than dangle at his sides; he'd made no attempt yet to defend himself whatsoever.

"Shyv, don't hurt him!" Lux cried at the top of her lungs, scrambling to find her footing. Tears were already threatening to cloud her vision and it took everything she had now just to keep her voice from breaking altogether. "Don't hurt… Talon…"

A sneer remained plastered across Shvyana's features and her claw-like nails dug deeper into the man's throat, threatening to draw blood. "Talon?" She echoed with a twitch, incredulous. Her grip faltered. "This… this _vagrant…_?" Talon crumpled when the half-dragon released him and in an instant Lux was by his side, embracing his body with one arm under his shoulder and the other wrapped around his waist.

"You came," she whispered with tears in her eyes, struggling to hold the rest of her emotions in check.

"I did."

Lux chuckled and sniffled at the same time. "How on earth… did you get inside here? We don't exactly leave the doors unlocked."

"An assassin never reveals his secrets." Talon offered a devilish grin as their eyes locked, though the look quickly faded when his gaze settled upon her cheek. For an instant those amber pools of his seemed to smolder, as if he'd noticed something he shouldn't have, but the moment soon passed and with Lux's help Talon rose to his feet. "Let's hope I live long enough to not regret it."

"You must forgive Shyvana," Jarvan cleared his throat as he beckoned the half-dragon to his side with a down-turned palm. Like a docile little lamb she complied. "I assure you she meant no harm. I suppose we're all just a bit on edge."

Talon gingerly rubbed the underside of his jaw, glowering at Shyvana before turning to face the prince. He honestly wasn't sure who he disliked more. "I'll bet."

"You _are_ here though, so I assume our plea hasn't fallen on deaf ears after all?" Jarvan folded his fingers under his chin as he leaned forward, his lips pursing back to form another veiled smirk. "I'm afraid there's no time for idle talk though. I must ask for an explanation… as to why you think Lux's plan wouldn't work."

Talon paused for a moment to shoot a glance at the blonde by his side. When she nodded to him, he exhaled and shut his eyes. "Years ago the High Command erected an anti-magic field around the city. It acts as an arcane ward. Any large disturbance, such as the displacement from a teleport, and they'd know you were coming long before you'd ever arrived. They'd slaughter you."

"They could try anyway," Shyvana bristled and snorted audibly, arms folding under her breasts. "But I suppose you have a better idea?"

"Maybe." Talon's brow narrowed beneath his tattered hood, a few stray strands of chestnut sliding across his eye line. "First, tell me more about this weapon. _Then_ I'll decide whether I'm helping or not."

Jarvan sighed, as if Talon's request had been an unreasonable one. His free hand moved to work over the knots in his own temples. "The weapon in Swain's possession is unlike anything we've ever seen or heard of before. The details are less than concrete to say the least, but what we _do_ know about it already gives us more than enough cause for great concern." Jarvan frowned and he saddled the gaunt assassin with a hard gaze. "Are you familiar with the term _psychic warfare_ , Talon?"

"You mean… mind control?" Talon stifled a snicker. _"That's_ what you're all worked up about?"

"Not mind control. Mind _destruction_ … and on a global scale. They call it _Undersong,_ a device capable of dominating or even killing hundreds – if not thousands – in a single fell swoop. A true weapon of mass destruction. Our intel suggests that those who fall under its effect are permanently robbed of their free will, turned into nothing but mindless thralls." His gaze narrowed. "I don't think I have to spell out the ramifications. We simply cannot allow a weapon like that to exist."

"Yeah well…" Talon's brow furrowed as he reached up to run his fingers along the nape of his neck. "Sounds like bullshit to me."

Both Xin and Shyvana seemed to stiffen at his response, but Jarvan waived them off. "I'm afraid we can't take that chance. We need your help."

For the longest time the assassin stood there in silence, jaded, his amber gaze bouncing between the walls of the room and the people standing near them. Slowly he tilted his head and looked to Lux. Her eyes had remained locked on his the entire time, unflinching but trembling nonetheless like two sapphire pools rippling in the wind. Slowly her pale lips parted to mouth a single word.

 _Please._

Talon sighed.

"The sewers," he spat out finally. "The sewers of Noxus are like a giant subterranean labyrinth, formed from the ruins of previous cities built up over the centuries. They extend nearly halfway to Zaun and right now they're the only way to get in – or out – undetected."

Jarvan's smirk widened. "Can you guide us through these sewers?"

"Me? No." Talon shook his head, just as his lips began to curl into the semblance of a wicked little grin. "But I might know somebody who can."


	6. Infiltration I

**Undersong, CH6**

Zaun's underbelly extended far further than most in Valoran would ever care to know. Its southernmost tendrils snaked well beyond the outskirts of town – a slum within a slum that acted as a sort of dumping grounds for the rest of the city. A serpentine network of aging aqueducts and sewage pipelines saw to it that nearly all of Zaun's industrial waste made its final resting place here. Before the war, only the lowest dregs of humanity would have ever thought to seek refuge in a wasteland such as this. Now it was just another neighborhood in an ever-growing metropolis of bloat and misery.

The journey here had taken them the better part of the day. The sun now hung somewhere in the colorless gloom above, little more than a vague outline just barely visible between filtered glimpses of gray sky. The rains had ceased for the moment as well, but not before managing to transform nearly every inch of the ground into a slushy mixture of urban bile. The filth had all the consistency of chocolate pudding, a thought Lux tried hard not to mull over every time her heels sank in. Even the air down here was nothing short of foul; she'd long since resigned herself to breathing through her mouth just to keep from tasting it. Every inch of her lower body was screaming bloody murder now. Her bottom, thighs, hips and calves all burned from overexertion. And just when she'd thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, out of the corner of her eye Lux spotted movement. Her sapphire gaze darted downward just in time to see something dark and furry skitter past her leg.

God she hated Zaun.

Lux folded over like a wet noodle and her eyes snapped shut a moment later, tears forming under the rims of her lashes. The urge to cough and retch from the pit of her stomach had finally overwhelmed her.

"Lux."

The blonde cracked an eye open at the sound of a low and steady voice calling out to her from behind.

"You ok?"

Lux nodded her head gingerly before willing her breathing back to normal. "I'm fine," she murmured, despite the feeling of rose-colored warmth dappling her cheeks. Her hand shot up to dab at her phantom tears with the back of her wrist. "This place… is dreadful, that's all. I… I can't imagine anyone actually living down here."

"Not by choice," Talon grunted as he idled past her. Yawning, the assassin reached up to snake his hand under his hood, as if to give the nape of his neck a much-needed massage. "Some of us never had that luxury though."

Lux clenched her jaw as fresh heat bubbled to the surface of her cheeks.

"T-That's not what I meant." She glared at Talon (or more accurately, at the back of his head) for far longer than she would have liked to admit, but eventually her furtive glances came to a rest upon the scarred sinews of his shoulders. Talon's right arm – the one he was using to tend to his neck – lay wrapped in strips of thin ivory cloth from his torso to the tips of his fingers. She hadn't asked him about it yet… why he kept it bandaged up like that and what sort of secrets he might be hiding underneath. Perhaps some things were better left unknown.

"What happened to your cheek?" Talon lilted at her suddenly, his words sending a shiver down her spine.

On reflex Lux reached up under her hood to drub her fingers against the remnants of a mottled bruise she'd so carefully managed to conceal beneath a layer of makeup. "Nothing," she retorted, fully aware of how flimsy her response must have sounded. Lux tried hard to glare at him again, but her courage quickly fizzled and her eyes flitted off to the side, lest he try and challenge her façade with that stupidly smoldering gaze of his.

"How did you hurt it?" he continued to prod, though his back remained turned to her the entire time.

"Talon…" Lux's frame tensed as soon as his name left her lips. Her fingers shrank from the bruise and moved instead to collapse around the edge of her cloak, if only to pull it down as far as it would go. "We're not having this conversation." Her gaze vanished under the shade of her hood. "Let's just focus on finding your friend."

"He's not my friend."

"Whatever _._ Let's just find him quickly. The day's already half over. Xin Zhao is waiting for us at the rendezvous point, and I…"

She faltered for a moment, her lips settling into a frown beneath her cloak. With a sigh her pace quickened and she pushed past him.

"…I hate this place."

* * *

 _Rations… check._

 _Underwear… check._

 _Medical supplies… check._

She'd spent the better part of the morning alone in her quarters, preparing for the mission. On her bed lay a crumpled canvas bag with its contents strewn about the sheets in haphazard little piles, like the wares of a street vendor. To the casual observer it might have seemed a tad insane, but to Lux this had become something of a ritual. The seemingly mundane task of packing her bag over and over again had always served to calm her nerves, especially before a dangerous mission, offering some semblance of normalcy to a life where there was otherwise little to be found.

A soft knock at the door all but broke her concentration.

"Come in," Lux lilted across her shoulder, without bothering to see whom it was. Her eyes would go wide moments later though, when a pair of massive forearms as thick as tree trunks wrapped themselves around her midsection. Lux yelped as her heels left the floor, shoulder blades now flush against the granite planes of a broad barrel chest draped in the finest silks Demacia had to offer.

"Jarvan?" she uttered, breathless, struggling to regain her composure. "What are you doing?" Her tiny hands alighted upon his in a subtle attempt to guide them by the wayside. "God, don't scare me like that! For a moment I… I thought-"

"You thought I was Talon."

Jarvan's voice remained low and even-keeled, ever devoid of emotion or judgment. Lux had known this man nearly her entire life and she _still_ couldn't tell when he was joking or being serious.

"Of course not," she chided gently, gathering what remained of her resolve and channeling it into steadying her nerves. "You simply startled me, that's all."

The point of his chin grazed her golden tresses. "Come now, there's no need to _lie_ about it. You had feelings for him, didn't you? Once upon a time, before the world all went to hell."

Lux sighed.

"Jarvan… _enough_. It's getting late and I really need to finish packing before-"

"Humor me," he grunted harshly into her ear, his breath like a plume of steam down the side of her neck.

Lux felt a subtle twinge in her lungs as they began to deflate under the weight of his embrace. She couldn't help but arch her back in response and the look on her face seemed to hover somewhere between pleading and pain. "You already know the answer," she whimpered under her breath. "Must you make me say it too?"

Jarvan smirked.

"I'll take that as a yes. And like any good spy you used the leverage you had to secure what you needed. Talon wouldn't have shown up on our doorstep like that otherwise."

"I…I didn't…" Lux's brow twisted in consternation. "It wasn't like that."

"Do you trust him?"

"W-What?"

 _"Trust,_ my dear. Do you _trust_ Talon?" Jarvan clicked his tongue against his teeth, as if the mere mention of the name left a bitter taste in his mouth. Curiously though, in all the commotion he'd managed to work his hands underneath the flimsy cotton of Lux's camisole. His fingers traced a slow arc along the curve of her navel, like ice against her skin. "You know they say he betrayed his own family? Left them to die on the Night of Fire, just to save his own hide."

"He may be _many_ things," Lux snapped as she shifted uncomfortably in his grasp, her lips pursing to form a bitter smile of her own, "but I assure you a traitor isn't one of them. Talon loved his sisters, more than he loved himself. He'd have never done anything to-"

"Love is such a fickle thing though, isn't it?" the prince grunted into her ear, cutting her off midsentence. His palms had settled on her bosom now, each hand working to forcefully cup her soft, perfect little mounds from underneath. "One minute you're head over heels in it, and the next…"

"Jarvan _please!"_ Lux tried with all her might to maintain some semblance of authority in her voice, but the cracks were beginning to show. She could do little more than flinch now and it took every ounce of her strength to keep from crying out when his fingertips collapsed on her nipples, nails kneading and stroking her reddening flesh with sinuous little flicks of the wrist.

"Tell me my dear," he whispered again, the tone of his voice heavy and guttural. "How long has it been since you and I shared the same bed?"

She shouldn't have opened her mouth after that.

She should have just let it go. Let him have his fill and move on. She had endured his petulance so many times before, chalked it up to the stress of leading a nation perennially on the brink of war. So many times… why not once more? Whatever the reason, Lux knew she shouldn't have opened her mouth, but she did so anyway.

"I wouldn't know. Go ask Shyvana."

For a moment the world became a blur and Lux could have sworn she tasted blood. The next thing she knew she was sprawled across the bed with Jarvan's ironclad fingers clamped around her chin, a bruise forming on the left side of her face.

"You are the future queen of Demacia," he snarled, "My _wife._ You of all people will not talk down to me. Do I make myself clear?"

Lux's head jerked as he smushed it into the mattress, so fiercely in fact that one of the straps on her camisole snapped clean off. Despite the pain he was causing her though, she neither flinched nor made any sound of distress underneath him. "Crystal," she murmured as their eyes locked. Her bleary gaze bore daggers and threatened tears all at the same time.

Jarvan glared back at her for the longest time but said nothing. His nostrils appeared to flare almost rhythmically, pulsating back and forth like the maw of some great flame-spitting serpent. His teeth, too, stayed grit and seething beneath tightly pursed lips.

But then everything simply relaxed.

"Good," he uttered after a long pause. A gentle smile creased the very edges of his lips and with that Jarvan leaned into her, in such a way that their faces now hovered a mere inch from one another. "You _do_ know how much I adore you, don't you? My dearest Luxanna." One hand moved to stroke her injured cheek almost apologetically while the other remained at her breast, slowly collapsing upon the hem of her clothing in order to shirk the last of it aside.

* * *

A hand clamped over Lux's mouth.

Suddenly she was back in Zaun again, her tiny frame being dragged against its will into the waiting the darkness of a nearby alleyway. Her eyes went wide and a muffled cry escaped her lips. On reflex she began to claw frantically at the forearm holding her hostage, but before she could protest any further, her captor relaxed his grip and pressed a single digit to his own lips.

"Shh. Not so loud."

Lux craned her gaze upwards to find herself staring directly at the underside of Talon's chiseled jawline. Her muffled hysteria turned to a sigh of relief, then a squeak of hostility almost just as fast. _"Talon!_ " she half-whispered and half-growled as she swatted away his hand. "What the _hell_ are you-"

"Over there," he whispered without shifting his gaze, cutting her off with a nod of his chin. "Look." Talon had his back against the wall behind them, his amber orbs blazing a line of concentration out to a point not far off in the distance.

Lux swallowed the rest of her vitriol and ceased her fidgeting, if only to allow her gaze to follow his down the corridor. The sun's luster had grown quite dim now, far more so than it had been just a few minutes ago. What little light that remained seemed to be waning quickly with every passing moment.

"What?" Lux huffed under her breath, her gaze flitting from one shadow to the next.

Nothing. Not a single sign of life as far as the eye could see.

With a soft sigh she surrendered the last of her frustration and shut her eyes, focusing instead on gathering her energy within. Her lips began to move in slow, deliberate revolutions, wordlessly reciting an incantation she'd learned long ago… one of the most elementary spell sequences any mage worth their salt had mentally scribed into their mind's eye. Simple spells involving light and sensory manipulation had always seemed to come to her naturally. She'd never need much instruction, let alone an arcane focus to cast them, not even as a child.

As the last of the incantation lingered on her lips, Lux's feathery bangs began to float up under her hood and a wave of flameless heat washed over her features. Her eyes opened moments later, lucent and bright, shining with a faint amber brilliance. With a smirk spreading across her lips Lux directed her newfound gaze down the corridor. The darkness seemed to all but melt away under her sight now, each shadow in the alleyway congealing into its true shape – a scrap heap here, a garbage pile there, some rusted piping, and…

Lux froze.

As if on cue, a squat and spindly little creature the size of a garden gnome popped its head out of a pile of trash in the corner. He was clad in tattered rags and what looked to be patches of matted beige fur all over his body. A pair of beady, goggled eyes sat wide on either side of his snout and he had a long, corded tail that seemed to flicker to and fro each time he stooped to rummage through a fresh pile of trash. Every now and again the creature would stop and snicker to itself when his paws happened upon something of value to pluck off the floor and toss into a burlap sack over his shoulder.

Lux craned her gaze back to Talon.

"Seriously?" she mouthed, struggling to keep her eyebrow from twitching. _"That's_ your friend?"

"He's not my friend."

"He's not even human!"

"He's a rat," the assassin replied calmly. "I believe I _said_ as much, didn't I?"

"Well… yes, b-but…" Lux glared at him, incredulous. "I didn't think you meant it _literally!"_

"Look, you wanted my help right?" Talon cocked his head at Lux. "Granted he doesn't look like much, but if anyone can get us into Noxus, it's Twitch."

"Fine. Whatever. Let's talk to him."

Talon shook his head, brow narrowing under his hood. "I think it'll be better if I do that alone."

"What? Why?"

"Just… stay here. Twitch isn't exactly a people person." Talon sighed as he pushed off the wall with one heel, his hands disappearing beneath the hem of his ebon cloak. Lux watched him go in silence and only when she was sure that he was out of earshot did she roll her eyes and sigh.

"Oh _that's_ rich… coming from you."

* * *

"Y'know Talon, lately it seems like you only ever stop by when you want something."

"And?"

Twitch shrugged. "Just an observation, really." With a shrill whistle the rat returned his attention to the task at hand before the assassin had interrupted him – namely the arduous chore of picking through an endless sea of trash. "I have to admit though," Twitch snickered as he plunged his head into a nearby garbage pile, "sometimes I'm absolutely astonished at what you humans deem fit to throw away. I mean look!" He wheeled about on his hind legs and thrust a dripping, half-empty yogurt carton into Talon's face. "Can you imagine? There's at least three spoonsful left!"

"Yeah… that's great. Listen-"

"Fine. What'll it be this time, hmm? Brambleback? Delerium? Not Shimmer, right? That stuff is disgusting, even by _my_ standards." Twitch made a sour face then glanced over his shoulders after that, as if to make absolutely sure no one was watching. "Perhaps you're seeking something a little more… potent?" The rat grinned. "I've got something special from Bilgewater. Something that'll _really_ knock your- _"_

"I'm not here for a fix, Twitch." Talon glowered darkly, reaching up to smooth a few stray strands of chocolate brown out of his eyeline and behind his ears.

"Oh? Then what, pray tell, are you here for exactly?"

"I need passage into Noxus."

 _"Noxus?"_ The rodent's ears pricked up and his tail thumped flat against the ground. "Why the hell would you ever want to go back there?"

"Never mind why." Talon's amber gaze narrowed sharply. "I need to get in undetected. Can you help me or not?"

Twitch scrunched his nose at the man's response, saddling him with a decidedly curious look. "It's not such a simple task anymore, Talon. Not like it used to be. The sewers are dangerous now, especially the uppermost layers… the whole damn thing is riddled with tricks and traps. And _that's_ not even the worst part." The rat snickered nervously before scratching the back of his head with one claw. "There are… _creatures_ … living in those depths. Creatures better left undisturbed, if you catch my drift. I don't know where they came from, but-"

"Is that a 'no,' then?"

Twitch snorted. "I suppose that all depends."

"On?"

"On what you're offering in return? I'd be putting my own hide on the line y'know. Though perhaps I might be persuaded to help you… _if_ the price was right."

"Twitch…" The assassin growled as he rolled his eyes, but before he could say another word, a feminine voice cut in from behind.

"Name your price."

Talon grit his teeth, swallowing a few choice curses back into the pit of his throat. Of course Lux wouldn't stay put. When was the last time any woman in his life had heeded his wishes?

"W-What is this… this… _sow_ doing here!?" Twitch's eyes glazed over and his snout cocked back as if to violently sniff the air. "She reeks of… lilacs… and… _gah!_ Is that shampoo? She'll contaminate everything!" The rat pulled a crossbow from his sack and snapped it to attention, his aim warbling between the two humans before coming to a shaky rest on Lux's chest. "State your business, fragrant one!" he gnashed his teeth as he squared up a shot, one beady little eye closing in the process.

Talon cradled his face with his palm, muttering something akin to _"and here's what I was afraid of"_ under his breath.

"We need passage into Noxus. No questions asked." Lux strode right past Talon, seemingly unfazed by the arrowhead pointed at her breast. "Please… just name your price. If it's within my power to pay it, I promise I shall do so. You have my word." Her hands rose slowly to peel back the hem of her cloak, as if to reveal her features more clearly. She had a look of utter determination plastered across her delicate features now, the one she used to conjure up every so often when she'd all but made her mind up. It was a trait of hers Talon actually found to be slightly more endearing than irritating, though ask him and he'd never have admitted it out loud. Lux always seemed so fragile and helpless, so thoroughly unintimidating… and yet there were times when he would gaze at her – like now, standing there with those silvery locks glistening in the waning sunlight – and it would dawn on him that what she had was a subtle power, far more potent than the threat of any bolt or blade.

"Name my price, hmm?" Twitch's ears pricked up, but the barrel of his sights remained focused where it was. His head cocked at an odd angle as if to ruminate on the offer and after a lengthy moment of contemplation he raised a single spindly digit, only to level it at Lux's throat. "Your necklace then," he burbled, a barbed grin forming from ear to ear. "Such a lovely little trinket you have there. One of a kind, is it not?" His tail began to flick from side to side, the way an animal's would when its interest had been piqued.

"M-my necklace?" Lux felt a lump form in her throat. All her previous pertinacity seemed to melt away like an ice cube under the sun. Slowly her hands rose to palm the silvery pendant dangling from her collarbone, fingers trembling just a bit as they curled around its faceted edges. "This has sentimental value to me." Her voice fell below the level of a whisper and the muscles in her jawline tightened. "It belonged… to my brother."

"Forget it." Talon shifted suddenly and moved to interpose his body between the two. "Her necklace isn't for sale." His gaze had sharpened to a razor's edge as he brought it to bear, amber orbs simmering under the shade of his hood.

 _"You_ are no longer a part of this negotiation!" Twitch feigned a snarl before folding his forelimbs across his chest. He was doing his best to maintain a poker face, despite the fact that his tail hadn't ceased its flickering for a single moment. "Let _her_ decide whether she's willing to part with it."

Talon grit his teeth. Before he could utter another word though, Lux cut in with a soft whisper. So soft in fact, that both Talon and Twitch shot glances her way just to make sure they'd heard right.

"It's fine."

Her gaze rose to meet Talon's in earnest, offering him a weak smile. The light in her eyes had long since faded with the magic of her spell and yet a soft glow still seemed to linger on. Wavering azure reflections of all the emotion she was now no doubt struggling so dearly to keep in check. "It's just a necklace, right? I'm sure my brother would have gladly surrendered it himself."

The pendant now sat in her hand, its chain pooled around the center of her palm.

"Here. Take it." Her eyes locked with those of Twitch. "Just get us into Noxus. That's all that matters now."


	7. Infiltration II

_Author's Notes: Well, I'm back. Again. I'd like to give a big thanks to Russian Hunter, who took the time to message me and get me writing again. I guess all I needed was a little nudge in the right direction. Anyway, to all my readers: I promise to finish this story one way or another, even if it takes a while for me to do so. Remember to like/comment if you're enjoying it, so I know you're still out there too!_

* * *

 **Undersong, CH 7**

The sewers of Noxus weren't really sewers at all, but a mazelike network of catacombs and caverns that stretched for miles under the city-state's domain. It was the product of centuries upon centuries of civil war. Lux could vividly recall the lessons from her history textbooks; there was a time in Noxian history when the nation saw the rise and fall of no less than seven regimes in three decades. _Seven._ And every time a new authority rose to power, it seemed as though the city itself would burn to the ground only for a new one to take its place over the ashes. History had shaped Noxus, literally, like the rings of a tree and here Lux was, huddled under the roots of its magnificent civilization… in a tunnel barely tall enough for her to crawl through.

The journey so far had been arduous to say the least. Every inch felt like a mile, every minute an hour. How long had they been down here anyway? There was no way to know for sure. The tunnel they were slogging through at the moment seemed to snake on forever, with no end or beginning in sight.

Speaking of sight… Lux's magic was fading.

Normally she could gather energy out of the atmosphere itself – from the light of the sun and the warmth of its rays – when she needed to replenish her mana. Doing so required proper rest however, something that she'd had little to none of in the past few days. Lux had long since pushed herself past the brink of exhaustion and as the light vanished from her eyes, and the shadows began to play tricks on her mind, the tunnel walls themselves drew closer and closer.

 _You're fine._

 _Everything's fine._

Everything wasn't fine. She hadn't told her comrades – hadn't told anyone ever, in fact – but there was another little issue that was beginning to become more and more apparent the longer they remained down here. Lux was afraid of confined spaces. Deathly afraid, as in any moment now she was liable to collapse in a pool of her own sweat and tears, and that would be the end of that.

"How much further?" Her voice remained remarkably even-keeled when she spoke though, seemingly devoid of any and all stress despite everything that was going on inside.

"Just a _teensy_ bit more. The tunnel ends up ahead," Twitch's voice echoed from somewhere beyond the darkness. His spindly little form appeared to flit and flicker between the shadows, dancing in and out of existence as if his presence were nothing more than a figment of her imagination. Talon and Xin Zhao weren't much further ahead of her either. Several times in fact, Lux had to catch herself from stumbling over their heels. Normally being here with them – Talon in particular – would have put her mind at ease, but down here like this… with her magic fading and her connection to the weave severely weakened, she might as well have been alone.

The seconds turned to minutes and Lux's chest grew tighter, her breathing ever more labored. It was as if there were hundreds of tiny knotted ropes coiling about her entire body, digging into her ribs and constricting her limbs. And to top it off, her lungs were beginning to feel heavy and bloated, like they were filling with water.

 _Oh god. Am I drowning?!_

Lux shut her eyes.

 _No._

She bit her lip as hard she could, drawing a bead of blood.

 _Everything's fine. I'm fine._

 _It's all in my head._

 _Everything's-_

"Open your eyes, Lux."

A deep, low voice shattered her concentration. Talon's voice.

Slowly the world came into focus and Lux found herself at the end of the tunnel, staring into a giant cavern more than four stories tall. They'd come out on a cliff ledge near the top and the unmistakable sound of rushing water seemed to echo up from the ravine floor. There was a river somewhere down there… a river of… something. Sewage most likely, given their position under the city.

"I suppose we can set up camp here for now." Twitch's nose quivered ever so slightly as he sniffed the air, his beady crimson eyes darting furtively between Lux and her companions. With a huff he set his knapsack aside, but not before palming a handful of cross bolts from a small quiver dangling from its strap. "The three of you look… and _smell_ … like hot garbage, believe me. I should know!" He snickered at his own joke, his snout baring two rows of sharpened incisors in the process. "You should rest a bit, I'll go on ahead. Maybe do a little scouting and see if there's a safer way to the surface."

 _"Safer?"_ Xin Zhao quirked his brow. "Implying we haven't nearly died a handful of times already?"

"The key word being _nearly."_ Twitch continued to cackle, his misshapen grin never faltering nor wavering. "It's only about a half-mile to the city walls now, but the going gets tougher from here on out. Tricksy traps and the like." The rat's ears flickered from side to side as he tilted his head. "I _assume_ you'd still like to make it there in one piece?"

"Just don't go too far," Talon replied as he plopped down cross-legged near the cliff ledge, his tattered ebon cloak splaying behind him. "Without you we're not getting out of here in any case."

"Oh Talon… be still my heart! Your concern is duly noted." Twitch nodded vigorously. "In the mean time though…" His tail whacked the ground with a resounding thud. "Nobody touch my stuff. I'll be back before you know it!" With a final teensy titter the rat cocked his crossbow and waddled off into the shadows… only to pop his head back in mere moments later, right next to Lux's thigh. "By the way blondie," he whispered, gazing up at her through the cracked glasses of his goggles, "you _really_ don't look so good. Might want to try and rest your pretty little head, while you still have the chance."

And with that, Twitch disappeared into the darkness for good.

Lux sighed as her body went limp and all her belongings clattered unceremoniously to the floor. She slumped to her shins and shut her eyes, tired fingers moving to work the stress from her sweat-caked brow.

 _You're fine, Lux._

The voice inside her head sought to assuage her fears and calm her nerves.

 _Everything's fine._

She took in another breath and silently began to count each beat of her heart, noting every time she felt a pulse in her temples. Slowly but surely the tightness in her chest began to ebb away. Perhaps she had always harbored some fear of the dark. It was something primal and almost _too_ cliché not to imagine – for a light mage, especially. One thing was for certain though.

She hadn't always been claustrophobic.

In Runeterra, the life of a spy was perhaps one of the most dangerous pursuits any sane person could ever choose. No soldier in his right mind would volunteer for that line of work – you were considered expendable after all, disavowed by your own country and hated by practically everyone else's. Lux was different though. For one thing she wielded the power of magic, and her fellow countrymen were nothing if not distrustful when it came to anything arcane. Lux threw herself into the world of espionage the first chance she got, for little reason more than to leave it all behind – the politics of her family, her responsibilities… Jarvan and his machinations… everything, really. Never mind that she was actually good at her job, good at wearing a mask and hiding her true feelings or intentions about anything and everything, burying it all beneath the surface of her smile to never see the light of day. Damn was she good. The Ghost of Valoran, they called her – the bane of Noxian counterintelligence for nearly half a decade.

Still, nothing could have prepared for when she got caught.

It was on one of her final missions into Noxus and a routine one at that. Right before the fall. She'd been so careless, so foolhardy. And they were ready for her, lying in wait the whole time.

They tortured her for days.

Noxian interrogators were quite fond of knives, you see. They'd slice her open every which way, leaving dozens of tiny cuts too shallow to cause any lasting damage. The blood though… there was always so much blood. They forced her to watch while it dribbled down her body and pooled in a drain on the floor. Then when they were finished with her for the day, they'd lock her in a box barely large enough to sit in and leave her like that to bleed out for hours on end.

She hadn't always been claustrophobic. Not before then, anyway.

"So, Talon." Xin Zhao broke the silence first by striking a match along the cavern floor. A spark flared to life and for a moment the man's features were laid bare in all their weathered glory, scars and wrinkles alike basking in the flicker of a warm glow. The light vanished as quickly as it appeared though, and all that was left in its wake was the smoldering orange point of a lit cigarette. "Humor me, if you will. I'm curious about your little friend… the rat. What a peculiar creature."

A weary sigh drifted up from somewhere in Talon's general direction.

"We're not friends."

"Oh come now," the general pursed his lips and exhaled a billowing cloud of smoke from between the scraggles of his facial hair. "We've _all_ made acquaintances we regret from time to time. Haven't we, Miss Luxanna?"

"Indeed." Lux was all too eager to chime in, her features softening as pangs of mirth brought color to her skin. She had her hand folded loosely over her mouth as if to feign some sense of decorum, but those smiling eyes of hers could do little to hide the fact that she was probably enjoying this more than she should've been. "Actually," Lux lilted, "I think it's kind of cute that you're making new friends, Talon. Better late than never I always say."

"Remind me to kill both of you when this is over."

Xin Zhao burst out into laughter and Lux couldn't help but follow suit. Even Talon could feel a smile tugging on the corners of his lips, though with his back turned to the others they would never have known it.

"I'm sorry Talon," Lux managed to squeak through her fit of giggling, "I…I can't stop laughing!" Lithe fingers rose to dab at phantom tears pooling under her lashes. "Forgive me?"

From his seat overlooking the ravine, Talon cocked his head to level a glance at her over his shoulder; presumably to saddle Lux with one of his trademark death glares. Slowly his lips parted to form a smirk, but before he could say a word the ground beneath their feet began to groan and shudder ever so slightly, as if the earth itself were answering on his behalf.

"What… was _that?"_ Xin Zhao's half-spent cigarette tumbled from his mouth.

Lux froze in her tracks. What little mirth she'd been harboring only moments ago had suddenly given way to that familiar sense of dread. "It isn't safe here," she whispered in the softest of breaths, as if her voice alone might trigger a collapse. "Maybe we should keep moving?" Her sapphire gaze rose to search Talon's amber-flecked one.

She wouldn't get a reply.

Another rumble echoed through the cavern and suddenly the ceiling was crashing down upon them. It all happened so fast, and yet she felt as though she were stuck in slow motion. One moment Talon was sitting there in front of her, his silhouette practically bathed in her shadow, and then Lux blinked and he was gone. Vanished from sight as a jagged boulder took his place and the ground beneath him crumbled away into nothingness.

Lux's heart plummeted into the pit of her stomach. She could feel the earth below her own boots disintegrating and her body beginning to tumble forward into the abyss like a broken rag doll. Her lips parted to make a sound but nothing would come out. Neither a scream nor whimper.

"Luxanna!" Xin Zhao broke her reverie and suddenly his hand was around her forearm like a vise, yanking her back from the precipice at the last possible moment. The pair fell backwards into the relative safety of the cavern tunnel from whence they came.

"NO!" Lux cried at the top of her lungs. As the cave-in subsided she shrugged off her companion's grasp only to crawl back towards the edge of the cliff. Lux screamed Talon's name, her cries echoing in the darkness till her voice went hoarse and her body rigid. Her bleary gaze darted to and fro, but to no avail. There was nothing down there. Nothing but broken stone and the sound of rushing sewage water churning ever deeper into an underground abyss.

"I…I'm… here…"

A low voice cut through the darkness, soggy and weak but somehow steady, and Lux's gaze shot down in its direction to see a waterlogged silhouette slowly crawling out of the river at the base of the ravine more than four stories below. At first she couldn't believe her eyes. A fall like that would have surely maimed any normal human being. But then a heavy lump formed in the pit of her throat and any notion of reason or rational thought quickly went out the window.

"T-Tal…on?" she sniffled, tears streaming down her cheeks en masse.

"The water's warm," Talon managed to sputter between coughs, his ribcage rising and falling with every breath. "But I don't recommend it."

"Unbelievable…" Xin Zhao popped his head over the edge, a grin forming on his face from one ear to the other. "You Noxians are like goddamn roaches, I swear. Practically unkillable!"

"Thanks… I… think."

"Y-you stupid jerk!" Lux's heart wouldn't stop thumping against her ribs, the action threatening to tear a hole through her chest at any given moment. "I thought… I thought you were…" she gazed down at him through a haze of tears.

And then froze.

There was something else down there. Something else in the water behind Talon. She couldn't make out what exactly – the sewage was far too murky for that. But she could definitely feel it. Sense its presence. The eddies in the river seemed to be flowing so unnaturally for some reason, breaking at all sorts of odd angles as if to give but a mere hint of what lurked below the surface.

"Talon." Lux's heart began to pound even faster. "Climb."

The assassin scoffed as he gingerly rose to one knee, his hands moving to wring the water out of his cloak. "How about you two come down here instead?"

 _"Talon please…"_ Lux pleaded this time, desperation dripping from every word.

All of a sudden a shadow crested over the water, something long and stringy like the body of a python… or worse yet, a tentacle. In a flash it slithered around Talon's legs and just like that he vanished into the darkness again, this time without a sound – barely even a splash – as if he'd never been there at all to begin with.

Lux's eyes went wide.

 _"Talon!"_ Xin Zhao barked as he hefted up his falchion, steel gaze searching frantically for a way down the broken cliff face. "Come on! We need to get down there!"

"No," Lux whispered. Her chin tilted, eyes all but obscured under a matted plume of golden strands with only the streaks from her tears visible on her cheeks.

Xin Zhao raised a brow. "What do you mean _no?"_

"There's no time…"

Her head rose to reveal her sapphire gaze glimmering in the darkness, as if a spark had somehow ignited from within. Her bangs began to float about in tumultuous revolutions, shining like silken sheets of platinum caught in a violent undertow. Lux's lips began to move as well, wordlessly at first but then with more conviction, more fervor. Her body jerked as mana seeped out of her pores and roiled across her bare skin. She hadn't rested properly in days. There was literally nothing but fumes left in her tank and yet still she called upon it all, even pleading with her spirit to take more.

"Luxanna!" Xin Zhao staggered back, shielding his eyes with his forearms as the light overtook them both.

Lux could feel her limbs growing heavier with each passing moment. Her head, her breast, her heart… all cold and numb as every single ounce of mana she had left in her tiny body came rushing to bathe her fingertips in smoldering silver-blue. The feeling of raw arcana coursing down her arms was almost too much to bear; without her baton to focus it all she'd likely burn her fingers to a crisp. But she didn't care. There was no time, and she wouldn't lose him.

Not again.

The cavern walls caught fire a second later as a brilliant beam of crackling energy – nearly three feet in diameter – tore the darkness asunder and touched down on the river below, parting the water like a spear from the heavens. For the briefest of moments everything was as bright and clear as a summer's day: the jagged cliff face, the murky sewage water, the submerged buildings of centuries long since passed. Then there was Talon's battered form, tangled in darkness and struggling below the surface… and last but not least, the horrific silhouette of something truly monstrous floating in the depths beneath him.

For a moment all was exposed.

Then the moment passed and the creature bellowed as the beam of light tore a searing hole through the center of its body, filling the air with an earsplitting rumble that threatened to rend the very ground they were standing upon. Giant tentacles whipped the walls as the creature sank into a pool of inky blackness, and the cavern began to collapse once more.

The last thing Lux would remember before losing consciousness was the sight of Talon breaking the surface, gasping for air, and the sound of water rushing to greet her spent form as she plummeted like a pebble into the river below.


	8. Friend of My Enemy I

**Undersong, CH 8**

Lux awoke with a start, her mind fuzzy and thoughts adrift in a sea of pain. She parted her lips to voice a groan, but the only sound that came out was that of a muffled, muted whimper. Next came her eyelids; they seemed to be refusing to cooperate altogether. For the longest time she could do nothing but lay there, numb and unmoving save for the subtlest murmur of her lips every time she managed to fill her lungs with air.

As time wore on, the haze wore off and Lux's other senses began to paint a picture for her. The surrounding darkness seemed to pepper her skin with cool, moist kisses. Either it was raining outside or she was still in the sewers. The steady, rhythmic sound of footsteps squelching through wet filth seemed to point to the latter.

 _Wait._

 _Footsteps?_

Her eyes snapped open, her pulse quickening as she writhed in place, struggling with every ounce of her will to bring the world back into focus as quickly as possible.

Lux wasn't alone.

He was carrying her in his arms like he'd done so many times before, hovering above her with that lupine glare of his and the slightest hint of a frown playing at the corners of his mouth. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant look – the type of glare an angry parent would give a child – but even then such looks could always trace their roots back to a place of concern… and affection, even. To Lux the look made her feel warm and safe, as if she were stepping out into sunshine for the very first time.

"T-Tal…on?"

The battered blonde found her voice finally, her tone soft and ever strained. "You're… okay…"

"I am," he replied softly. "The river carried us a ways down, but we're close to where we need to be."

"Good." Lux managed a weak smile. Her bleary gaze dipped down to alight upon the five o'clock shadow of Talon's rugged jawline, lingering there for far longer than she'd ever admit. Her own cheeks grew hot and flushed as certain thoughts began to occupy her head now and all of a sudden she was overcome with the urge to reach up and touch his face. Sadly, Lux found she could barely lift a finger, much less move her hands. With a groan her vision fell further by the wayside, down towards her limbs that were dangling pitifully at her sides. Each arm lay bandaged in tattered rolls of heavy gauze; she could clearly make out the mottled maroon burns marring the skin underneath, poking out from between the seams of her dressings. The pain was nothing short of wicked… a throbbing, relentless ache that seemed to course through the magic circuits in her nerves like a never-ending loop of lightning. Classic mana burn, albeit far more severe than anything she'd ever experienced before.

"You burned them pretty badly." Talon motioned towards her hands with his chin. "Something tells me you won't be casting another spell anytime soon."

"No…" Lux shook her head softly. "Not… for a while, at least…"

Talon furrowed his brow, the glare underneath softening just a touch. "You're lucky, you know. It could have been worse."

"Could've been better, too…"

"You could have died." Talon's gaze shifted straight ahead, the muscles in his jaw twitching visibly. His normally subdued tone showed cracks in its armor, as if he were struggling to keep certain emotions from bubbling too close to the surface. "What you did was foolish. _Stupid_ even. Is that the kind of 'expert' military training they teach in Demacia?"

A faint smile crested Lux's lips.

"Yes," she whispered as her head slumped against his shoulder and her eyelids began to droop once more, unable to bear the weight of her own exhaustion any longer. "Protect the ones you love… at all… costs…"

Talon's gaze flickered down to her, but it was too late. Lux had already nodded off. With a weary sigh the assassin shook his head and shifted his grip, bringing the sleeping form in his arms just a bit closer to his chest.

* * *

"Talon… are you _sure_ about this?" Xin Zhao reached up to scratch the back of his own head, disheveling the base of his normally impeccable topknot. "It's not that I don't trust you, but… well…"

Talon rolled his eyes.

They'd been at it for several hours now since the incident in the river, plodding through ruined catacombs and sludge-filled canals left in varying states of decrepitude. Everything was running together with no beginning or end in sight… no landmarks or defining features to let them know where they were going or whence they'd come. Gradually though, the crumbling structures of centuries past began to give way to stout metal piping, the knee-deep sewer water to dry stone tile and steel grating. Somewhere along the line they'd managed to stumble across the threshold into Noxus proper and were now less than a few hundred feet below the city itself. Talon's eyes had lit up soon after that, as if the memories from a previous lifetime had come rushing back to him and he'd suddenly figured out where exactly they were.

The chamber they were standing in at the moment seemed replete with steam, the heat and moisture all but wafting up through long, narrow grates crisscrossing the floor. Jutting out from the very center of the room (and continuing on into the ceiling) was a massive metal pipe the color of spent charcoal. They'd passed a number of such pipes along the way, but for some reason this particular one seemed to catch Talon's attention over the others.

"This is it," the assassin replied as he surveyed the structure, his fingers tracing along a neatly spaced row of lacquered rivets dotting its outer shell. The dark metal felt warm and surprisingly smooth to the touch, burnished from decades of constant use. "These heating ducts connect the lava flow beneath Noxus to the lowest levels of the city." He cocked his head at his companions, though his eyes never seemed to waver from where they were looking. "This one leads right into the back of the inner sanctum. The armory isn't far from there. If Swain's really hiding some kind of weapon, it'll be around there somewhere."

"Okay, but how can you be so certain?" Xin Zhao narrowed his brow, apparently still unconvinced. "We've passed literally _dozens_ of these things over the last few hours and they all look exactly alike."

"Not exactly." Talon continued to trace the surface of the pipe as he made his way around it, stopping only when his fingertips happened upon the blemishes of an etching carved into the otherwise faultless sheet metal.

 _T-A-L-O-N_ it read, in barely legible chicken scratch.

"Noxian winters were always cold," the assassin muttered under his breath. "As a child I used to sleep here – in this very spot – to keep from freezing at night."

Lux's eyes widened, her breath catching in the pit of her throat.

"Y-you… _slept_ … here?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds." He flashed her the briefest of bittersweet smirks. "Trust me, there were worse places to end up." Slowly he turned his attention back to the sheet metal, his golden gaze shimmering in the dim light. "Anyway, it's a bit of a climb but there's an exhaust grate about fifty feet up from here that will get us into the sanctum. We'll have to shimmy up along the inside of the pipe to reach it, but we bypass all the security this way." The smirk turned to a devilish grin. "No one will ever be the wiser."

"I see," Xin Zhao nodded as he ran a hand through his beard. "Sounds simple enough, I suppose."

"There's a catch though." Talon pulled a knife from his boot as he spoke and with practiced precision began to chip away at the numerous rivets with the flat of the blade. "These vents pull heat from below at regular intervals," he grunted as he pried the metal free. "Once we're in there… we have to move quickly. We'll have no more than five or six minutes tops."

As if on cue to punctuate his point, a blast of molten flame spiraled out of the darkness just as the last rivet popped off and the curved sheet metal clattered to the floor. Talon staggered back from the sudden jet, his hands rising reflexively to shield his eyes from the heat and short-lived glow. The massive flames lingered for a few seconds before finally dissipating altogether.

Xin Zhao sighed. "Of course there's a catch."

Lux had been unusually silent for the past few minutes now, but what she'd witnessed finally spurred her to action. "Talon," she whispered as her bandaged arms moved to fold tightly under the curve of her breasts. She'd long since lost the cloak she was so fond of hiding under, but her matted bangs did a fine job of veiling her gaze in its stead. "There has to be another way in." Her eyes remained fixed on the floor. "I… I don't… think I can do this."

"I'll carry you."

The blonde shook her head. "I don't mean physically."

It wasn't all that obvious at first, but Talon could see that her hands were beginning to tremble quite violently.

"I… I just…" A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. "I'm afraid… of-"

A firm hand grazed her shoulder then moved to cradle her cheek. "I know." Talon smiled at her for perhaps the first time in a very long time. A genuine one too, wistful but untainted by his usual bitterness and cynicism. "It's ok. All you have to do is close your eyes and hold on." His smoldering gaze held hers for the longest time and then he simply turned, motioning with his chin for her to climb onto his back. "We've made it this far."

Lux shivered, still hugging herself. Even here Talon's touch had managed to bring some semblance of warmth back to her pale, dirt-stained cheeks, if only for a fleeting moment. "What the hell," she muttered under her breath, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her face firmly into the broad sinews of his shoulder blades. "Don't you dare drop me."

They waited for another cycle of flames to pass before entering the duct, Talon first with Lux in tow and Xin Zhao following close behind. Like spiders in a rain gutter they skittered upwards into the maw of darkness. Lux's breathing remained shallow the whole time, her entire body taut from tension and dread. She clung to Talon like her life depended on it, her legs splayed about his hips and her arms interlocked just below his collarbone. It was a small miracle she hadn't fallen off, let alone accidentally choked him thus far.

 _The walls aren't closing in…_

She whispered to herself over and over in her mind's eye, as if by brute repetition she could somehow make the words come true.

 _The walls aren't closing in._

 _The walls aren't closing in._

 _The walls aren't closing…_

"Here we are."

Talon's voice, strained and fatigued as it was, freed Lux from her own feverish chanting. She said nothing in response though, nothing but a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god had been watching over them. Her face remained buried in his shirt.

"About time _,"_ came an equally weary voice from somewhere beneath them. "I'm getting too damn old for this."

Talon suppressed a snicker. He leaned backwards into the pipe walls now, trying to shift the brunt of his weight to his heels and allow for one of his hands to work on popping open the grate. There was just one slight problem though.

It wouldn't budge.

"Fuck."

Lux felt a twinge in her chest. "What is it?" Her heart began thumping against her ribcage and in turn, Talon's spine. "What's wrong?"

"It… it won't open."

 _"_ _Seriously?"_ Xin Zhao nearly growled below them, sending tremors up and down the entire length of the pipe. "Do we even have time to head back now? Or…"

"One second." Talon pulled the knife from his boot and used it like a pick to hack at the welded joints on the grate. "When the _fuck_ did they fix this? Been broken for twenty years…"

"Talon," Lux shifted nervously behind him. Her limbs had grown damp with sweat and her grip was beginning to falter because of it. "It's getting a little warm in here…"

No reply.

The hammering and scraping continued for what seemed like an eternity, only to end with the blade breaking and Talon unloading another string of expletives.

Xin Zhao dodged the broken blade as it whistled past his face and tumbled down into the seemingly endless void of the pipe. "Guys," he grunted as the darkness below them began to burgeon with the color of molten flames. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news…"

Talon said nothing but reared back with his bandaged arm, letting the knife handle slip from his grasp. A moment later he balled his fist and laid into the grating as hard as he possibly could. The entire pipe shuddered and the thick metal slats on the grate curved inwards from the blow. Another solid punch and the bolts began to splinter.

"TALON!" Lux screamed as the heat grew to a blistering swelter and the blinding light sought to purge all the darkness around them.

The entire pipe section shattered seconds later just as volcanic flames roiled past, and out spilled three very tired, very clammy bodies. They toppled to the floor in a fit of coughing and a jumble of tangled limbs, each gasping desperately for a breath of fresh air.

Xin Zhao was the first to stir as he rolled over and batted his arm against the ground, snuffing out a lick of flame that was still dancing up his coat sleeve. Gingerly the man glanced over to Talon, who was similarly sprawled and coughing, with a panting bundle of blond still draped across his back.

"Next time," Xin Zhao gasped, his chest rising and falling, _"lead_ with the punches."

* * *

When the trio had collectively caught their breaths, they'd found themselves in a large boiler room at the bend of a long and meandering hallway. Talon was the first to peer outside the doorway, his hawk-like gaze darting vigilantly down the corridor. The place was like a railway tunnel, metallic and dank with a curved sloping ceiling and dim alchemical lamps dangling every few yards or so. Recessed doors, like the one they were standing in, seemed to line the passage on either side with nothing but an occasional side tunnel to break the monotony. When he was sure the coast was clear, Talon made his first tentative step into the hallway.

"Looks like they did some remodeling," he whistled as he rolled out the kinks in his neck. "I don't recognize this."

"Where does that leave us then?" Lux's gaze flitted from door to door as they ambled cautiously down the corridor. "How will we find the weapon if we don't even know where we are?"

"I _know_ where we are." Talon narrowed his brow sharply under the hood of his shirt, not bothering to look back. "What I _don't_ know… is what we're really even _looking_ for in the first place." His white-hot glare centered its crosshairs on Xin Zhao. "I think its time you let me in on the whole story. What is this weapon exactly?"

The general glared back at him calmly. "We'll know it when we see it."

Talon stopped dead in his tracks, arms folding across his chest. "That's not good enough. Either you tell me _now_ , or…"

All of a sudden he froze midsentence, his eyes glazing over as he staggered back and clutched his head.

"Talon?" Lux cried out as she rush to his side. The pair slumped to their knees with Lux supporting his weight as best as she could. "What's wrong?"

Talon doubled over, clutching at his ears with both hands. "I… I'm not sure…" Slowly he forced his eyes open, his roiling gaze flitting between the faces of his bewildered companions. "You… you can't hear it?"

"Hear _what?"_ Lux searched his gaze frantically, but Talon only grit his teeth in response then shook his head violently.

"A voice…" He growled his defiance as his eyes locked with Lux's, frustration and confusion seeping from his features. "It's… in my head…"

 _"_ _Undersong."_ Xin Zhao dropped his hands to the pommel of his blade. "It must be close by." He wheeled about on his heels, his gaze darting down the corridor. "Tune it out Talon. Don't listen to it! It'll eat away your mind from the inside."

"No…" Talon grunted as he shrugged off Lux's assistance. "That's not it." Slowly he rose to his feet, hands sliding away from his ears. "It… wants… something else." In a flash he was racing back down the corridor, much to the surprise of his Demacian comrades.

"Talon!" both called out in unison as they chased after him. He took them on a wild goose chase, stumbling down several side tunnels all lined with seemingly identical doorways, until finally they turned the corner and came to a halt at a dead end in the passageway.

"Here," Talon glared at an otherwise ordinary looking door through red-rimmed eyes as several wisps of matted brown slid across the bridge of his nose. "It's coming from here."

"Talon…" Lux huffed as she bent over to catch her breath, bandaged hands falling to her thighs. "Wait, please!"

He went to work prying the door open before she could say another word, groaning with immeasurable strain as he did so. The door was way heavier and far more solid than it looked, and only after several seconds of wrenching did it finally open, sliding into the wall with a long hiss as it vented compressed gas into the air.

When the smoke cleared, Talon took a step forward.

The room was sparsely lit, the gunmetal tiles of the floor blending in with the darkness to form a lush carpet of shadow that seemed to lead straight to the foot of a single, solitary object standing in the center. It was a large cylindrical tank filled to the brim with some sort of strange viscous liquid… and a dark silhouette floating silently inside of it. Talon squinted as he moved closer, then his eyes went wide.

She was beautiful.

It was her skin that caught his attention first – as pale as porcelain, shining from the dark void like freshly fallen snow, seemingly untouched by the sin of humanity. It was as though those lovely curves had never seen a drop of sunlight in their natural existence. Curves that were currently bathed in nothing save for that crystalline fluid… and the dark, polished glint of barely-there latex hugging her slender limbs, forcing each arm to fold and bind with the other, just above her navel. Her long cerulean tresses, too, shimmered like some sort of sinuous river of unbroken lily pads cascading down to her knees. The lower half of her face remained obscured by a metallic breathing apparatus with clear tubes running into the ceiling, the only clue to her current state of being. Otherwise she floated all but lifelessly in the confines of that glass tank, like some sort of heavenly sea spirit preserved in space and time, her eyes closed but her delicate brow upturned as if to plead for release.

"S…So…"

Lux took a step back.

"S-So…na?"

Her soft cry of incredulity broke whatever trance Talon had been afflicted with and slowly the dumbstruck assassin turned to cast a sidelong glance back at her. "You know who this is?"

Before either could say another word, let alone comprehend what was happening, a flicker of motion sent Lux sprawling to the floor. In the blink of an eye Xin Zhao had shoved her aside and closed the gap between him and the girl in the tank, his blade fully extended, cutting edge whistling through the glass to send spidery cracks up and down its massive length. A second later the tank all but shattered, sending bits of broken glass and fluid spraying every which way. The blade sailed effortlessly through the space where liquid had once been, only to come to a grinding halt but a hair's breadth from the pale, gleaming skin of its intended target.

Talon growled through gnashed teeth as he leaned in with all his strength, driving the quivering blade back and away from the sleeping girl's neck at the last possible moment. He'd caught the blade with his bandaged palm, barehanded.

"Xin… what the _hell_ are you doing?"

"Move, Talon." The general responded in kind, gritting his own teeth as both of his hands moved to throw all of his weight behind the blade. "I won't ask again." Try as he might though, he simply couldn't force Talon aside. Both their bodies trembled, the muscles in their limbs quivering from the deadly game of tug o' war, but neither man would yield.

Neither gave an inch.

Lux watched the two of them in a daze, as if she were trapped under a glass bubble of her own. Her throat felt hollow, her consciousness heavy and barely there, as if the entire world had been pulled out from under her like a rug.

"Xin…" she cried out finally as she rose to her knees, her arms threatening to buckle at any given moment. _"Why?_ " Hot tears pooled under the rim of her dark lashes, blurring her vision further. "Don't you recognize her?" Lux faltered, as if unable to believe the words herself. "It… it's _Sona!"_

"I'm sorry Luxanna," the general intoned as he pressed with every ounce of his strength, finally breaking Talon's guard and skewering him through his side. "I… have… my orders." Talon crumpled as blood spurted out from his wound, but not before shoving Xin Zhao six feet backwards. A shadow fell across the general's features as he staggered into the wall, the darkness obscuring his face in such a way that everything save for his frown seemed to remain hidden from view.

"For the sake of Demacia," he grunted under his breath as he flicked his blade clean, his gaze narrowing venomously.

"For the sake of all humanity… Undersong _must_ be destroyed."


	9. Friend of My Enemy II

**Undersong, CH 9**

He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to bleed out.

To witness his own essence well up between his fingertips, soaking through his skin and staining all his belongings the color of red wine. The pain had already begun to drown out everything else in Talon's head. His torn flesh lay angry and exposed, buzzing in agony as it wept a never-ending stream of sanguine tears down his side. The blood was dark and viscous, almost burgundy in hue.

"She'll devour your mind, Talon." Xin Zhao's voice called out from somewhere beyond the darkness. "Maybe she already has." As the general's silhouette came into view, Talon could see his bloodstained falchion trailing behind him, scraping the floor with every step he took. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard.

"Go to hell…" Talon hissed through clenched teeth, pressing a feeble palm against his wound as if to try and force the blood back into his system. With great effort his head rose to cast a sidelong glance back past his shoulder. The girl behind him lay slumped against what remained of her glass prison, the latex bonds dangling from the ceiling the only thing keeping her upright. Her eyes remained shut, her mouth sealed beneath a heavy breathing tube, and yet those otherworldly whispers of hers still seemed to linger on in Talon's head. Each word was as murky and muddled as the water beneath a frozen pond.

Maybe Xin was right.

Maybe this girl _was_ eating away at his mind. After all, Talon had jumped directly into the path of harm's way the second her life had been threatened, seemingly devoid of any self-preservation instinct whatsoever. There'd been no thought, no second-guessing; he'd simply _acted_ , as if his mind hadn't been all his own.

"We wouldn't have made it this far without you." With a flick of his wrist, Xin's blade now loomed overhead, the tip spitting out a shower of sparks as it lifted off the ground. "But I'm afraid this is as far as you'll go." A grim look spread across the lower half of his weathered features, a look that bore no satisfaction or love.

Talon would have sworn he saw the bastard smirk.

"Do it then," the assassin growled, his head drooping as he wiped the blood from his chin. In that moment he wished for nothing more than the strength to stand again, if only to be able to spit in Xin's face. The thought alone nearly brought a smirk to his lips, but all he could do was wait.

And wait.

And wait…

But the blow never came.

Instead, Talon felt the gentle pitter-patter of something warm and wet splatter atop his head. Gingerly he reached up to dab at whatever substance was now dribbling down his neck and when his fingertips swung back into his eyeline, he could see that each had been stained red. Not the dull, venous blood from his own wound, but a bright crimson instead. Talon's eyes went wide a moment later and his jaw fell slack as he craned his neck upwards to see Lux now standing before him, the tip of Xin's blade sprouting from her shoulder like a bloody rose in bloom.

" _L-L…Luxanna!?"_ Xin stumbled backwards, his blade tumbling from his grasp. " _W-why?"_

"She's… _not…_ a weapon," the mage replied softly. Her gaze had vanished beneath a matted mess of tangled curls and her trembling fingers clutched meekly at the spot where metal had skewered her shoulder. "She has a name _."_

Xin's brow seemed to soften at these words and slowly he regained some semblance of composure. With a heavy sigh he stooped to retrieve his blade. "The girl you and I knew by that name no longer exists. That thing behind you is nothing but a shell… a weapon of unimaginable destructive-"

"Her name is _Sona!"_ Lux's vision grew blurry as the corners of her lashes pooled with hot tears. "Xin… I-I beg of you… whatever you think she is or isn't, let's take her back home to Demacia. I'll talk to Jarvan. This is all a misunderstanding, I'm sure of it."

 _"Luxanna, enough!"_ Xin snapped, with such force that even Lux couldn't help but flinch at the vitriol dripping from his voice. "Step aside." His features hardened perceptibly, gaze narrowing to a point. "That's an order."

For the longest time Lux remained frozen in place, unable to lift her head, much less form a reply. She couldn't bear to look at him now, at the man who had been like a second brother to her growing up. The man who used to carry her, laughing, on his broad shoulders when she was just a child. The man who had carried her real brother's body back home from the front lines to ensure he'd receive the proper burial he deserved.

"I…"

Tears streamed down her cheeks uninhibited.

"I… can't."

Neither one said a word after that. Xin's shoulders seemed to slump however, as if the weight of the situation - and what he was consigning himself to do - was almost too much for even him to bear. Nevertheless, his grip tightened about the hilt of his blade…

And then he froze at the sound of a shrill, yowling siren piercing the air.

For a split second Xin's concentration faltered. "Alarms?" he grunted, his eyes flitting upwards for the briefest of moments to locate the source. That lapse in focus would cost him dearly however, for the next thing he knew Talon's metallic forearm was digging into his throat and a dagger was sinking halfway into the nook of his jugular. The general bellowed from the sudden strike, his arm dropping dead and blade clattering to the floor, but not before managing to plant a knee squarely in his assailant's stomach and knocking him aside. Ignoring the dagger for a moment, Xin saddled Talon with his massive frame and began to swing at him savagely with his good hand. After two solid punches Talon blocked the third, his metal knuckles colliding with Xin's fist to send electric shivers up the man's bones. Seemingly unfazed though, Xin retorted by grabbing Talon around the throat and slamming his forehead into the bridge of the Noxian's nose.

The two traded blows relentlessly, no longer a brawl between men but a life and death struggle between two animals; a pair of hungry old wolves rediscovering their lusts for blood. Just as Xin gained the upper hand and Talon began to receive the brunt of his rage over and over again, a shimmering curtain of light washed over them and suddenly the bigger man was pinned against the wall, struggling in place as countless strands of whisper-thin radiance wound deftly about his midsection.

" _Luxanna!"_ He roared as he flexed against his silvery bonds, the tendrils of arcana already beginning to snap before they'd even had a chance to fully form.

"Hurry," Lux whimpered to Talon as she staggered towards him, the searing agony on her face making it abundantly clear just how much the fledgling spellcast was taking out of her. "I can't hold him much longer…"

Talon spat out a wad of blood before gathering himself off the floor. Without a word he lurched towards the tank, snatching up a shard of glass to slice through the last of the bonds holding Sona captive. Just like that her tiny frame slumped against his chest and he scooped her up in his arms. Lux fell in line behind him as they made their way towards the exit. The mottled skin peeking out from between her bandages had turned an even deeper shade of purple now, with wisps of smoke effervescing from her palms. She bit her lip hard, silencing the pain and forcing her mind to ruminate over the injury to her shoulder instead.

"If you leave this room," Xin Zhao barked at her, the alarm doing its best to drown out the rest of his words, "you turn your back on _everything_ you've ever stood for. You'll never be able to set foot in Demacia again!"

Talon vanished into the corridor, but Lux stopped to look back one last time. A somber and utterly pensive smile had worked its way into the corners of her features. A look that at any other time or any other place might've broken Xin Zhao's spirit altogether. "I know," she mouthed to him without actually saying the words out loud.

And with that, Lux disappeared into the pale glow of the hallway for good.

* * *

"We'll be swarmed by guards any minute now," Talon grunted over his shoulder, not bothering to look back.

Lux could barely make out his words over the sound of her own ragged breathing, not to mention the alarms still blaring somewhere off in the distance. They'd managed a frenzied pace for several minutes now, two fugitives flitting through a seemingly endless maze of twisting turns and corridors, all with a half-naked woman in tow. Had it not been for the splotches of red burgeoning in their wake, Lux would have sworn they were running in circles.

Blood continued to trickle freely from her wounded shoulder, the heat dribbling down her arm and staining the bandages below a dull crimson in the process. Her eyes had lost their shine as well, the pearly inner luster gone. Only a vacant haze remained, a cloud of hurt and confusion that seemed to cast its shadow over every other thought trying to carve out space in her head. So many things had happened in such a short time and right now Lux wasn't equipped to process any of it.

For one…

 _Sona was alive._

That alone was already more than Lux could handle. She wasn't sure _how_ they had found her or even _why_ exactly, but right now she couldn't care less. Never mind that Sona had turned up in the basement of a Noxian stronghold, or that Xin had called her a weapon and a threat to humanity. Forget for a moment the fact that she'd supposedly died over a year ago, one of several casualties of a terrorist bombing in Piltover. No, there was only one thing that mattered right now. Sona was _here_ , with her… safe and sound, at least for the time being.

Moving on…

 _Talon's arm was made of metal._

She was at a loss to explain this one too, and it was his _entire_ arm from what she could see. The bandages covering it had torn to shreds in several places, revealing the dark glint of unpolished alloy hidden underneath. With his shoulder exposed she could clearly see where the metal fused with his flesh. Seamlessly so, as if it had always been that way. Lux wasn't sure where to even begin. On the one hand she wanted desperately to ask him about it, to understand even just a little bit what had happened to him after all these years. But on the other, something told her she wouldn't be able to stomach what she might hear.

"The alarms," Lux panted finally as they rounded a corner, ducking into the shadows of an alcove to catch their breaths. Her legs nearly faltered then and there, and she had to reach out with her good arm to try and steady herself against the wall. "H-How… did they know we were here?"

"Not sure." Talon glowered at her, his own chest rising and falling rather rapidly. "Maybe because that _idiot_ decided to break the glass?" Talon had pulled his sable hood up over his head again, but the tattered fabric could do little to hide the rivulets of red streaming down the sides of his chin. A slow burn had taken root in his lungs and his limbs were just about on the verge of giving up altogether. The pain from his injuries had long since bubbled over into the realm of numbness, the once searing agony replaced now by a dull yet disconcerting ache. _Not a good sign._ Pain was the body's way of letting you know you'd gone too far. Numbness was a sign that it no longer cared what happened next.

"Talon… I-I…" Lux struggled to find the right words, as if Talon were a firecracker and something she would say might set him off. "I'm… sorry… for dragging you into this." She could feel her vision growing bleary at the corners again, doing her best to blink it back. "I had no idea… about Sona… or Xin… or-"

"It's fine."

From under the safety of his hood Talon's amber gaze went to work scrutinizing Lux's current state. Her lashes lay rimmed with red, cheeks dappled, lips bloodied and bruised. He could almost feel the strain seeping from her delicate features. The palpable tension seemed to weigh her down like a bag of bricks, threatening to drown her in a pool of her own despair. She normally hid that kind of pain so well.

"I volunteered, remember?"

He flashed her a tepid smile before allowing his gaze to alight upon the mysterious little feminine form fast asleep in his arms. He'd never seen anything like her before. Featherweight, pale like porcelain, and fragile… oh so fragile. Talon was afraid she might shatter in his grasp if he held on too tight. Her bare skin felt cold and clammy against his, but the subtle lilt of her bloodless lips and heavy breasts told him that she was still clinging on to the threads of life, if only barely so.

Somewhere along the line though, her voice - the one that had been bouncing around uninvited in his head - had fallen unbearably silent.

"How is she?"

"She's breathing," Talon responded, his eyes lingering on Sona's form before rising to meet his other companion's gaze once more. "Beyond that, I'm not sure."

Lux exhaled softly then hugged herself, another unconscious habit of hers when she was nervous or afraid. "How are we getting out of here?"

"Good question. Clearly not the way we came, that's for sure." Talon cocked his head and shot a smoldering glance back towards the main corridor. "There… might be another way though." His brow narrowed sharply under the point of his hood. "This entire building is surrounded by a dry moat. If we can get to one of the higher floors, we can try to cross underneath into the old city. It's a long shot, but it's not like we have many options."

"What about the alarm?"

"With any luck it'll pull guards away from our position and give us a chance to escape."

Lux's lips curved into a soft frown. "And… Xin?"

Now it was Talon's turn to sigh. Even after all they'd been through, after what Xin Zhao had done and said, Lux still found space in her heart to worry about him. "Let's focus on ourselves for now." Talon pushed off the wall and pointed with his chin towards the main corridor. "Ok?"

No sooner had he crossed the threshold than something sharp and steel-tipped whistled towards his chest. On reflex Talon twisted out of its way, but the toll his body had already taken, coupled with the weight in his arms, all conspired to slow him down and instead the crossbow bolt glanced off his flesh. A bloody squelch erupted from the back of his shoulder and Talon was driven backwards, his blood painting a thin line of red across the wall behind him.

"Found one!" A gravel-filled voice barked from somewhere down the corridor and suddenly the armored silhouettes of a handful of Noxian soldiers began to spill forth out of the darkness.

"Don't you _dare_ fucking move," another one yelled from the opposite side. Now they were surrounded.

Talon glared at Lux for what must have felt like an eternity, but in truth it couldn't have been more than a fleeting moment. _Stay hidden,_ he meant to say. The soldiers had only seen him, after all. If she kept her mouth shut, maybe just _maybe_ they wouldn't spot her in the darkness. Much to his chagrin though, Talon realized that Lux wasn't looking anywhere remotely in his direction. No… in that moment her gaze appeared to be utterly transfixed by whatever was happening in his arms. Slowly Talon allowed his focus to follow southward…

And two orbs of molten amber light were peering right back at him.

Sona's eyes were open. Talon stood there absolutely frozen, mouth agape as the girl in his arms reached up with five slender fingers to cradle his bloody cheek. Suddenly the entire passage was bathed in a searing golden glow and all he could hear - barely… just barely - were the vague, indistinct screams of the men around him. Tears streamed down Talon's cheeks and as his consciousness faded, for the first time in his life the Blade's Shadow found that he feared the darkness more than he hated the light.


End file.
